BALTIMORE — Drug addiction and fentanyl poisoning are a deadly combination that’s shattered so many families.
This weekend, one family is helping put an end to this crisis.
Adam's Light, a nonprofit that lends a helping hand to the community, is led by his sister Shelley Debelius, and mother Esther Shack-Seivert.
"We are in a crisis right now with fentanyl in Baltimore. Heroin doesn’t even exist anymore. It is fentanyl," says Debelius.
She lost her younger brother Adam to a fentanyl overdose in September of 2021.
"Two weeks before he passed, he started using again, and unfortunately what he thought was heroin happened to be fentanyl, and it killed him," says Debelius.
Adam's death wrecked the family.
"He died instantly. He still had the needle in his arm. There was no hope at all to revive him," says Shack-Seivert.
In the wake of Adam's untimely death, the family created Adam's Light back in 2022, inspiring users to walk a path avoiding death and destruction.
"I wanted to start a nonprofit in his name to help those that may not have that family stability and let them know that people do care about them and we there are people that care," says Debelius.
Saturday night, at Honeygo Park from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm, a candlelight vigil will be held to honor Adam and other drug overdose victims. The hope is to save lives and put an end to the fentanyl crisis.
"I just think we really need to be more aware and not to discriminate against somebody that is going through addiction. Be kind to them and try to help them," says Shack-Seivert.
"There is nothing like this in Baltimore, so we’re the kind of the first to do this," says Debelius.
