Brent Kennard, left, and Tawny Saeler are two of three Butler residents scheduled to speak publicly about their descent into addiction and ascent to sobriety at Butler County Community College’s Stories of Hope on Sept. 19. The event is free and open to the public and will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Butler Art Center, 344 S. Main St., Butler.
(Butler, PA) Hope Charlton at 36 was unaware her children’s get-well notes were piling daily on her hospital nightstand as she lay unresponsive on life support after attempting to kill herself with an overdose of sleeping pills.
Brent Kennard, 35, was incarcerated 13 times and spent a total of nearly seven years behind bars “all due to my drug addiction.”
Tawny Saeler, 35, used heroin “every day for 16 years,” was jailed 12 times and like Charlton wanted to die “because everything I had used to cover up my pain was not covering anything up anymore,” she said.
The three Butler residents will speak publicly about their descent into addiction and ascent to sobriety at a Butler County Community College event in downtown Butler that recognizes national recovery month and whose attendance has increased fivefold since 2019, a BC3 administrator said.
BC3’s Stories of Hope is free and open to the public and will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 19 at Butler Art Center, 344 S. Main St. Speakers intend to inspire others in substance-use recovery during the event that debuted in 2019.
Charlton, 38, has not used controlled substances for two years, Kennard for 3½ and Saeler for seven.
"Just because you get clean doesn't mean it is going to be all rainbows. But you don't have to use. "
- Brent Kennard, BC3 resident
A crowd listens to a speaker in substance-use recovery during Butler County Community College’s first Stories of Hope on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019. BC3 will hold Stories of Hope from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 19 at Butler Art Center, 344 S. Main St., Butler. The event is free and open to the public.
"I think all of us felt for so long that we were alone... But having someone who does understand will open your eyes."
- Tawny Saeler, 35, Butler
BC3’s Stories of Hope will inspire guests in substance-use recovery to continue their journey, Clowes said.
“They may gain insight into how other people have done it,” Clowes said. “I want them to leave there knowing they are not alone in the community. I want them to leave feeling a little more connected to the community.”
“I think all of us felt for so long that we were alone,” Saeler said. “That nobody understands. But having someone who does will open your eyes.”
“There is a better way,” Kennard said. “We do not have to live in the madness of addiction or jail every day.”
Charlton said she will tell others in recovery at Butler Art Center that they can overcome setbacks without the use of controlled substances.
“Things are going to happen,” Charlton said. “Just because you get clean doesn’t mean it is going to be all rainbows. But you don’t have to use. No matter what.”
The fourth and featured speaker at BC3’s Stories of Hope is scheduled to be Dr. Joey Pagano. The author, licensed social worker and therapist has been in long-term recovery and is executive director of the Greene Treatment Center in Carmichaels.
At Pagano’s lowest point in addiction, he wanted to end his life after robbing a gasoline station to purchase controlled substances. He chose instead to walk into a police station to seek help. That decision, according to his memoir, would change his life.