Family Addiction Network 2015 Meetings

2015 Meetings

December 15, 2015

FORGIVENESS - A SELF CARE PRACTICE

Presenters: Susan Marco with special guest Abby Cahn-Anton

It might be one of the hardest parts of living with or relating to an addict. How do we forgive them and ourselves? Do we forgive them and ourselves? Being the step-parent of someone misusing substances provided many opportunities for our presenter to practice finding and sustaining forgiveness in the midst of hopelessness and helplessness.

Susan Marco (one of our co-founders) will share the perspectives and the tools she found along the way, which helped her stay grounded and to maintain an open heart through very difficult times. Susan is very honored to also welcome a special guest, Abby Cahn-Anton, who is a sacred and non-secular musician. Abby will compliment Susan's presentation with the sacred flute music she uses to assist people with their healing journey. Both Susan and Abby have extensive backgrounds as providers of healing arts and are honored to be able to share this evening with you.

November 17, 2015

FINDING HOPE

Presenters: Melissa and Michael Skelly

A father and daughter find HOPE in addiction recovery. While there are many paths to recovery, there is one constant-and that is hope. It is not always easy to see a life beyond the addiction; beyond the chaos, pain and suffering. But hope can be found.

Melissa Skelly will share her experience as a child growing up in an alcoholic home, and how her love for her father, positive attitude and hope for a better tomorrow, has aided in his recovery. Melissa is a Monmouth County native currently residing and operating a natural wellness center in Ocean Township.

Michael Skelly of Red Bank, will share his story of the bumpy road of addiction recovery. Michael has been sober for more than four years and has found hope as well as the support of his family, as a central ingredient in his recovery process. They encountered many obstacles, hardship and heartaches along the way, but Michael is proud to be alive and share his story of sobriety and a second chance at life.

October 20, 2015

FINDING THE BEST CARE FOR A LOVED ONE

One of the most daunting tasks when faced with the reality of a loved one suffering with addiction is where to go for help, how to pay for it and how to know that the help you find is adequate. Dory Rachel will inform us about the levels of care, detox, rehabilitation, insurances and how to find the best care for your loved one. Q and A will be included.

Dory is the director of community services at Advanced Health and Education in Eatontown, NJ. She lives in Asbury Park and is in her 30th year celebrating long term sustained sobriety. She began her journey as a single working mother who didn't have a car and bartended for the first two years of her sobriety. Her working journey has been as interesting as the unfolding of her journey

of recovery. These days she works in the field of addiction treatment helping people find the right place to get help. Dory also is a certified Reiki Master Teacher and a practitioner of healing touch, sings with the Ocean Grove Choir in the summer and enjoys pen and ink drawing! She is also proud to share that she recently became a grandmother!

September 15, 2015

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

A Father, a Mother and a Sister Relate Their Struggles and Triumphs in Helping Their Loved Ones with Addiction.

September 15, 2015 heralds the inaugural meeting of the Family Addiction Network. The presenters will be sharing their personal stories of how addiction not only affected their lives, but drove them to help create the Family Addiction Network.

Co-Founder Shanna Giordano’s experience involves a sometimes overlooked area of addiction. In her quest to help her sister, she discovered that resources were hard to find. This created a desire to address the difficulty locating resources in the midst of crisis.

After dealing with one of her daughter’s having begun using drugs, Co-Founder Angela Grassano realized that there needed to be a venue for people to share and find support when coping with an addicted loved one.

Larry Mihlon is Family Addiction Network co-founder Susan Marco’s husband and Chief of Police for the Borough of West Long Branch. His experience with his son’s spiral into heroin addiction and 2013 near fatal overdose forced him to rethink decades of opinions about drug addiction. He now serves on the Governor’s Addiction Task Force and speaks at schools and public gatherings about the indiscriminately lethal impact of heroin and smashes the stereotypes of addicts and their families.