A year ago a father, Kevin Tibbetts, found his daughter, 23-year-old Christin Tibbetts, dead. The culprit? Heroin.

Since then, Kevin and his family have made it their mission to speak out for the need for more services for people with addictions in Chautauqua County. On Saturday, the Tibbetts family held a candlelight vigil service, not only in memory of Christin, the Dunkirk/Fredonia native, but to remember all of those that have been lost, and to highlight the need for more services for people with addictions.

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan spoke at the vigil, highlighting some of the improvements that have been made in the state to start to help those who suffer from addiction.

“I feel the pain, but I see the light. As county executive, my ultimate responsibility is the safety and welfare of every citizen that lives in this county. I did not know Christin. But just like her and others who have succumbed to this disease, they continue to remind me of my responsibilities to the safety and welfare of those in my community. I’m not one to pass the buck. I realize that as county executive, people look to me,” said Horrigan.

The improvements to the judicial, medical and educational systems Horrigan noted include:

New York State has passed laws for insurance coverage. “For many people, even if there is treatment available, it is unaffordable. No longer can coverage be denied while your case is being appealed. That is one of the most important things we are working on,” said Horrigan.

Education and prevention of addictions are essential, said Horrigan. “What we have in our schools, in our curriculum and in our physicians’ offices is to explain the dangers of addiction, of heroin, of alcohol, of the full spectrum. We have got to have our physicians teach and our kids understand. Education and prevention is very important.”

The judicial system has been reformed extensively, according to Horrigan. “Starting March 1, we will have a far more comprehensive system in our jail. It’s going to be a whole system of care. People who are incarcerated, by definition, are not getting the heroin or drugs in jail. They are detoxed of that drug, by definition. You send them out the door, and what’s going to happen? If they don’t have the support system, they don’t have the care or somebody that’s working with them, they’re going to go right back to using at the level they were at before. That is fatal. In our jail, we have expanded the amount of behavioral health, psychiatric treatment and additional help. Emergency treatment will be available and we’re going to follow them through so we’re not just kicking them out the door.”

WCA hospital is 30 days away from having an expanded withdrawal service. “They’re not calling it detox. Someone that needs withdrawal medication is going to get it,” Horrigan said. “Now, in the emergencies room, we have additional treatment staff, so what we’ve been able to do is put a better system in place for people who go to the ER that need this help. Drug courts will focus more on treatment options rather than just putting someone in jail or sending them to another county.”

Supportive housing: “Supporting housing is not treatment. Treatment is going to be at WCA and we’ve put in an application for Lake Shore Behavioral Health. These are competitive grants for these programs that we’re working very hard to get. It’s going to be tough, but we’re fighting for it. We have to compete with all the other counties in New York state. The best thing I can tell you is, write to Sen. (Cathy) Young and tell her that Chautauqua County is where we need this,” Horrigan said.

“As county executive this is utmost on my mind. However, this problem is not something I could snap my fingers and make go away, even though I wish I could,” Horrigan concluded.

Christin’s parents, Kim Leach and Kevin Tibbetts, also spoke at the beginning of the vigil, which had a turnout of around 60 people.

“A parent losing their child is never a good thing. I love my daughter, but the reason I lost my daughter is the bigger problem. We want to find people some help, get some treatment centers out there. This is not so much tonight about the loss of my daughter … she is one of many that we have lost in the last year, or two years, and it seems like the number is just growing. I really would love to see that number come to a dead halt, but I don’t think it’s going to. Let’s try to get some help for these people,” said Leach.

Kevin spoke next, saying, “It’s not so much just about our daughter but about stopping and helping other children. Our daughter also lost two very close high school friends from the same evil, and I find that unacceptable. I know we need some more help around here, so what I’m trying to do is get support from the community to get behind this.”

Visitors were then called up to share their memories of Christin. Among the speakers were her sisters and best friends who talked about their time with Christin and memories of typical high school antics and silliness.

“No matter how bad someone is, they’re still a person, and they’re still an amazing friend. That’s what you need to remember. If you are out there using, get help. it doesn’t just affect you, it affects everybody. Kristin was a mother, she was a best friend, she was a daughter … she was a hellraiser, and a sister. Even if you were just her friend, you were her family. if you were someone she’s never met before and you called her and said you needed help, she’d be there quicker than you could imagine,” said one person.

“She would teach you when you needed to be taught, and love you when you needed to be loved,” said another friend.

Then, Christin’s sister, Brittany Campaign, gave an emotional and heartfelt speech.

“I think that’s what’s so heartbreaking and hard to understand about how someone so strong could let something that seems so small in the beginning overtake your entire life. If you have first-hand experience with someone with heroin … they’re different. They’re not the same person. You don’t feel like you know them, and I think that’s what’s wrong with people, is because they hate heroin users and think they’re bad. They steal and do this and that but they don’t understand, and I still don’t understand, how strong that drug is. It will pull you away form your family, your friends, your siblings … every person you were there for falls away from you. You lose yourself well before it takes your life.

“That’s what happened to Christin. I didn’t know how this drug was affecting my sister. I just knew I lost my sister well before I physically lost her. Not understanding it myself, I hated her. I was so mad at her. You’re stealing, you’re doing things you know are wrong. You were raised by the same parents, and you’re doing things you know are wrong. My advice to anybody who knows anyone who is using … they’re going to steal from you. You’re going to want to hate them. But the best thing you can do for that person is be there for them. You don’t just quit.

“We need something bigger in this community that’s going to help them, because all these people here for Christin helped her. We need something bigger to get through to these kids, to tell them that ‘we’re here for you, we’re not going to shove you down because you’re a user.’ Support them when you can. You may hate them. I spent my two years Christin was using, hating her and wishing she was better. It’s hard to accept that you need to hold that person closer than you ever have before. I wasn’t there for her and I wish that I was.

“What a whole community can do is so much different than just what one person can do. We need to show people and be there for him. They need something bigger and this town just doesn’t offer it – it’s so small. Kids have nothing to do. My other sisters and I got out but not everyone thinks they have that opportunity. This town sucks them in and they get bored and have nothing to do. We need to show them they can get out and do something more. This town just doesn’t have enough for kids,” said Campaign.

The ceremony ended with the candlelight vigil, where the room was dimmed and dozens of tea lights were aglow as the room was silent except for a prayer given by Rick Huber, CEO of the Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County.

For more information, contact Huber at 661-9044 or mhacc-1@yahoo.com, or contact Horrigan at 753-4211 or horriganv@co.chautauqua.ny.us.