Mother tries to turn tragedy into triumph
No mother should ever go through the heartbreak Lynn Bird experienced in 2014.
Two of her daughters, both heroin addicts, promised her for Mother’s Day that year they would undergo treatment and get sober.
Sadly, they both succumbed to their addictions later that year, dying of heroin overdoses just four months apart.
But out of this tragedy, Bird and others are trying to help people battling addiction find a path to recovery in Greene County.
Bird, in partnership with Steps Inside, a Waynesburg-based nonprofit rehabilitation organization, worked to open the Bird Sisters Oxford House, named after Lynn’s daughters, Jennifer and Megan. It is tailored specifically for women facing drug or alcohol addictions.
The model is designed to give peer support to addicts as they share a home with others battling similar issues. The structure closely follows another Oxford House in Waynesburg for men that opened in November 2014 and has been viewed largely as a success.
The women’s Oxford House has been open for about two months and organizers are still working to attract tenants. The large home on North Richhill Street, which can house up to seven women, started with three tenants, but is down to one after the two others left for unspecified reasons.
It’s not easy to remain a house member, as there is a zero-tolerance policy for using drugs or alcohol, and each member has an equal say in how the house is run. It needs to be full to give people in recovery the peer support they need.
But with Bird’s support and passion for the issue, there’s no doubt it will be successful in helping women beat their addictions. Bird, who lives in Morris Township, Greene County, lamented there wasn’t something like the Bird Sisters Oxford House in the area when her daughters were searching for sobriety.
With the current heroin epidemic across the region, there is hope Bird’s heartbreaking story – and determination to turn her tragedy into someone else’s triumph – will reach another family on the brink and help them before it’s too late.