HANCOCK COUNTY — Last year, Makenna Grace Decker attended the Annual Recovery Walk to support those going through addiction. Nine days later she was dead from a drug overdose after more than one year of being sober.
Makenna, who passed away far too young at the age of 39, Sept. 26, 2022, after taking a drug laced with fentanyl, will be remembered during this year’s 9th Annual Recovery Walk slated from 8 a.m. until noon, Saturday, Sept. 23.
“People who are struggling need to be encouraged,” Makenna’s mother, Janet Decker said. “These people are on a roller coaster and it’s so difficult to try and save a person going through this, which is why people need to seek help.”
The annual event is designed to bring awareness to those recovering from addiction as well as their families and will be held at the Depot Street Park, 251, Depot Street, Greenfield. There will be resource tables, a guest speaker, a 2.5 mile walk, live music and much more in order to bring awareness to addiction and recovery.
“Makenna didn’t plan to die that day,” her mother said. “All it took was one mistake and her life was over.”
September is known nationwide as National Recovery Month. The phrase officials associate with promoting the month and will be using from here on out is, “Every Person, Every Family, Every Community.” The statement implies recovery is possible for everyone. Those who dedicate their lives trying to help others say that treatment can save a life and can help people with substance use disorders recover from addiction effects on their brain and behavior.
Locally, the efforts to help those addicted has never been stronger with numerous programs and people throughout the county willing to help those who need it most. The idea of celebrating recovery each September brings to light the hope addiction doesn’t have to destroy a life.
Linda Ostewig is the Director of the Recovery Café of Hancock County. She is also a Certified Peer Recovery Coach and the Director of The Landing Place, Discovery Cafe and the Talitha Koum Women’s Recovery House, all places designed to help people get back on their feet following addiction issues.
Ostewig teaches many classes associated with the Recovery Program at the Recovery Café and can often be found in the café talking with members or mentoring people one-on-one in her office. However, one of her biggest goals each year is organizing the Annual Recovery Walk, which focuses on someone who has passed away from addiction while also celebrating and encouraging others going through recovery and their families.
“Our whole passion and vision gears up for this one day,” Ostewig said about the Annual Recovery Walk. “Our whole community is growing and working towards making sure people can recover and get on with their life and living.”
Struggling when her own daughter suffered from substance abuse, Ostewig turned that pain into something positive and was instrumental in opening The Landing Place and helping create events like the Annual Recovery Walk to help families find real solutions for addiction.
“Even though we have a lot of heartache in this field, the one that lives and makes it and goes on gives us the ability to keep pushing on,” Ostewig said.
Ostewig admits there are days when she’s thought of quitting the fight to help others especially after Makenna died, but she said God will not let her stop.
“I’ll see someone who has made it one year and then two years and you get encouraged again,” Ostewig said. “The evil thing about this disease, addiction, it quietly and patiently waits and all it takes is one little slip up.”
Organizers are bringing in a guest speaker, Jennifer Storm, an author and trauma therapist who will be speaking during a women’s event at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22 the evening before the walk at the Venue, 211 Park Avenue.
For the family of Makenna, who had been sober for over a year before she died, the Recovery Walk will be a chance for them to share her story and let others know she was more than a person caught up in addiction.
“Makenna had been doing well and she didn’t plan on dying that day, I can tell you that,” her mother said. “Never assume that it can’t happen to your family. Addiction is not selective and it doesn’t care who you are.”
In her younger years, Makenna was a very talented gymnast from the age of 3 until the age of 16, her family says. She had a true passion for hair styling, photographing everything and everyone, and could be found shopping often. She volunteered at The Landing Place and loved spending time with family. She also attended Brandywine Community Church.
“If only she had just said ‘no,’” her mother said. “You used to hear that said a long time ago and we need to tell people to say it more. Just say ‘no’ to drugs.”
