At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Jamestown, Lee Harkness, program committee member, introduced Kim Carlson, business development manager for ROBO Enterprises, who gave a presentation on, “Drug Addiction in Jamestown: Problems and Solutions.”

Carlson spoke about the need for transitional housing in Chautauqua County. Many recovering drug addicts, when released from rehabilitation, don’t have a safe place to live with sobriety. Many often just go back to the same situation they came from and are often taken advantage of by dealers.

When Carlson decided to speak to Rotary, she understood it would be a tough road. Her son, Alex Foulk, died of a heroin overdose in February 2016. Alex’s 27th birthday would have been on Tuesday. While the subject is still very raw for Kim, she shows strength and poise in talking about addictions and finding reasonable solutions to the problem.

Foulk was a normal, healthy boy. He grew up with his sister, Aleida Foulk, in Jamestown. As a native daughter, Carlson taught her children about the importance of living in Jamestown and being close to their roots. When Alex Foulk was 10 years old, he was diagnosed with ADHD. He was an avid athlete and played soccer, baseball, football, and hockey. He loved to compete. But, after a year of taking the ADHD medicine and seeing what it was doing to her son, Kim decided she was not going to continue the prescription. Alex Foulk struggled in school with his ADHD and he was dyslexic. However, he found a way to get through school with his learning disability.

According to Carlson, Foulk was a normal child who always participated in family gatherings. Family was very important to him. Carlson also mentioned that family gatherings were very open and honest; any subject that came up was not off the table. Carlson wanted her son and daughter to know she was always willing to listen to them.

After high school, Foulk attended Jamestown Community College. After a couple of semesters, it was apparent that college was not in the cards for Foulk. After working for the family business, he landed a position at the Randolph Children’s Home assisting troubled youth. Foulk was genuinely touched and moved by their plight. He did well there and up until his death, he volunteered teaching/coaching hockey to children.

Early in February, before Foulk passed away, Kim recounted an ironic conversation with Foulk about the dangers of heroin. Carlson told Foulk there were dangerous packets of fentanyl-laced heroin on the streets and that it was becoming a large problem. Foulk assured his mother he had never used heroin and never intended to use the drug because he hated needles. Even with that reassurance, Carlson worried about Foulk because in the past he had a problem with an addiction to pain pills. Additionally, Carlson is a recovering addict (pain pills and alcohol).

On a late Friday morning in February, Foulk passed away. It was not until the afternoon when Carlson called the coroner to ask what was the actual cause of death that she was blindsided with, “Alex’s death was the result of the heroin that was found in his body.” Foulk had assured his mother he was not taking heroin. He hated needles, but the pull of the drug was too much for him. Foulk died smoking fentanyl-laced heroin.During the funeral, Carlson and her family decided they needed to be honest about Foulk’s life and death. He was a good friend to many people and he was a good kid. Carlson said heroin addiction affects the young and old.; the rich and poor. Many people don’t know what a heroin addict looks like. Heroin addicts have no face.

After the shock of losing her son to heroin, Carlson said she has dedicated her life to helping others with addiction; and ultimately, lobbying local decision-makers on building transitional housing. At this point in time, Chautauqua County does not have a safe place where people can come out of a rehab or jail to live among a secure environment with other recovering addicts so they can get the encouragement they need.

For more information or to learn more, visit alex44.org.