Area families concerned about drugs start new group

Aug. 4, 2020

By Kristena Schutt-Moore

 Local families have started meeting at the pergola in Riverside Park every Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. to discuss the drug issues within Bancroft and the surrounding area. They have taken on the name Families Against Drugs. FAD. The group has just had its first couple of meetings in response to area families who are looking for help and do not know where to turn. 
Many of those attending the meetings are looking for information and support for family members who have become addicted to a drug and are trying to recover. Others are there to find resources for themselves as they are a caregiver. Some attend because they are concerned by what they see happening in their community. No matter the reason they are there for, members share information and resources to help each other and hope to build plans to help the community. 
There are many things that FAD is currently discussing, including looking at starting an Al-Anon for those dealing with a person who has addiction problems and a Narcotics Anonymous group for the individuals themselves. 
They are also talking about starting a Community Watch program. This program would share information they collect with the Bancroft detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police and other community organizations that might be interested. Many of those in attendance at the meeting  knew of locations in the area of what they termed “trap houses.” With the community watch program they are hoping to collect such information and provide evidence to police about illegal activities in the community. 
Organizer Wilma Brethour says she started the FAD meeting as a way to bring the community together, “We have to work together. We have to find ways to deal with problems in the community. We got to do something, it's festering.”
Anyone interested in being part of FAD, sitting in on a few meetings, or getting more information about the growing group, can contact Brethour at 613-334-7724 or visit her Facebook page.