ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
As young people across the country continue to lose their lives in the fentanyl epidemic, El Jebel resident Cath Adams is spreading awareness about the synthetic opioid drug in schools and other venues — and encouraging youth to find creative outlets in their communities.
Adams started the Aperture of Hope education and creative-outlet initiative with her family after losing her oldest daughter, Emily, to an accidental overdose when she was 21 and living in Tucson, Arizona, in 2020.
As part of the awareness-building project, Adams and her youngest daughter Ashley give presentations at local schools that focus on educating students about fentanyl through sharing their family’s story.
On a weekday afternoon in November, Cath Adams stood in front of a sophomore health class at Rifle High School holding a picture of her daughter Emily.
“So we’re talking about the good reasons for fentanyl in the medical profession and relieving pain, but illicit fentanyl can cause pain, and I know that too well … because that painful fentanyl took my daughter’s life,” Adams said to the class.
Adams told the students that her daughter had a big heart and volunteered to help underserved communities in the valley.
“Emily always helped people in her life,” Adams said. “When she was a young teen she helped with the gardens at the Orchard Church in Carbondale and she built and planted over 100 pounds of food for Lift Up.”
But Adams told the students that her daughter was bullied a lot in school; she started using meth her freshman year of high school and ended up in rehab in Arizona.
“Now I want to ask you this question, what can bring someone to try substances, illicit drugs, drinking, smoking pot?” Adams asked the class.
Students responded with a variety of answers, including peer pressure, trauma and “just for fun.”
“The common answers I get are depression, bullying, maybe challenges that they’re facing in their own home life, and what it comes down to is a coping mechanism or just even experimenting,” Adams told Aspen Public Radio and Aspen Journalism in an interview. “You know, the disease of addiction is real, and some of our kids have it, and that’s a part of who they are, but I let them know, ‘Let's go out and get help for it,’ because we all have something in our lives, right?”
Adams’ daughter Emily had ups and downs in rehab, but eventually made it out and was 18 months sober before she died in 2020.
Text messages on Emily’s phone revealed that she purchased the pain medication Percocet without a doctor’s prescription from a dealer to relieve pain from a tooth infection, but the pills contained fentanyl and she overdosed.
“You know, you may feel or think that your kid won’t go down that path, but you never know,” Adams said. “There are many young people that are dying from first-time exposure.”
According to the CDC, overdose deaths from drugs like fentanyl have been declining in the U.S. over the last year, but such deaths remain the leading cause of death for people aged 18 to 44.
In Pitkin, Garfield and Eagle counties, 30 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses between 2020 and 2023, according to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment statistics, and at least six were between the ages of 15 and 24.
“Right now, our teens need us, and we need our teens, and we're losing that generation to this ugly fentanyl epidemic,” Adams said.
At the end of her presentation at Rifle High School, Adams asked each student to write their thoughts down on a note card and put it in Emily’s old backpack.
Rifle senior Laura González wrote about the last time she saw her brother, who has struggled with addiction and now lives in a mental health facility in Pueblo for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
“I dealt with my quinceanera without him, my first band concert, my first basketball game, and now I'm turning 18 and my graduation is coming up and his presence is not going to be there,” González said.
González said she appreciated that Adams came into the classroom without judgment and shared her personal story.
“It’s very important to hear from someone who’s lived it instead of just someone who researches it, because there’s a whole different side of things … even how it can affect others in your family,” González said.
Rifle sophomore Jose Rodriguez, who lost his best friend to a fentanyl overdose in Oklahoma two years ago, now carries naloxone, or Narcan, in his backpack everyday. The over-the-counter prescription nasal spray can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.
Rodriguez said he would like to see more mental health and addiction resources for students and drug education start earlier in schools.
“I wish there was actually someone that sat me down and said, ‘Hey, if you're going to do something, here are the consequences and here is proof,’” Rodriguez said. “Like, instead of literally just one of my best friends dying in the streets.”
Local mother Pilar López attended one of Adams’ presentations with Glenwood Springs and Basalt police officers at the Glenwood Springs City Hall in November.
She agreed with Rodriguez that schools should play a larger role in educating kids about drugs.
“Necesitan escuchar estas conversaciones no solo de mí, sino de otra persona,” López said. “Porque conozco a mis hijos, van a decir: ‘Ah, mamá, estás loca' y 'Ah, vas a buscar información al azar sobre cosas.’”
(“They need to hear these conversations not just from me, but from somebody else,” López said. “Because I know my kids, they're just going to say, ‘Ah, Mom, you're crazy,’ and ‘Ah, you just go find random information about things.’”)
While Adams wants students to understand the dangers of fentanyl, she also wants to help them address the underlying causes of drug use and addiction by seeking mental health support and finding sources of meaning in their lives.
“If you find yourself struggling, reach out,” Adams said. “Know that there are people out there that will take you under their wing. Don't feel like you’ve got to do this on your own, because it’s super hard.”
According to the American Psychological Association, a growing number of psychologists recommend holistic approaches to overdose prevention such as encouraging young people to find creative outlets and a sense of purpose in life.
After going through rehab, Adams’ daughter Emily found purpose in helping others with addiction and wanted to go back to school to become an addiction therapist.
“At 19, she encouraged a mother to stay in rehab who wanted to leave, and if she did, she would lose her two kids,” Adams said. “The mother chose to stay in rehab, and I know this because she sent me a message after Emily passed, because of Emily's encouragement, ‘If you don't stay here, you might not see your kids,’ and now she has her kids in full custody.”
Emily’s interests and passions grew out of her own life experience, and Adams encourages other young people to follow their own curiosities or creative outlets.
“What if we took a musical instrument and that was our coping mechanism, or what if we went outside and explored,” Adams said. “So I'm trying to create or help bring them healthy coping mechanisms.”
In addition to teaching youth photography classes through the Glenwood Springs Parks and Recreation Department, Adams also helps the city organize its annual GlenWOODSTOCK music and arts festival.
“So we have musicians that are teens who perform, vendors that are teens, and there's games,” Adams said. “It's just an outdoor concert where we can all come together and it's open to the whole community.”
In preparation for this year’s festival scheduled for Aug. 9, Adams has been helping hold monthly open mic nights at the Bluebird Cafe in Glenwood Springs.
“In January we had a full house, it was standing room only,” Adams said. “And one parent mentioned to me that this music and this creative outlet that their teen is performing, is saving their teen's life.”
While Adams acknowledges there are forces beyond her control when it comes to the fentanyl crisis, she said that doesn’t stop her from doing what she can to share her story and help others with the Aperture of Hope initiative.
“There are bigger things; there are cartels,” she said. “I can’t fight them, I can’t get them to stop, but what I can do is talk to the kids locally.”
Back in the Rifle High School classroom, Adams ended her presentation by reminding students of the value they bring to their communities and encouraging them to reach out for help if they need it.
“My generation needs you guys, we need you for our survival. We need you because you are full of gifts, you have wisdom, you have hope,” Adams said. “And if there is a bad day and it’s hard for you to cope with, you have people that will support you.”