HEART TESTIMONIALS TESTIMONIALS FROM THE

Jessie Saavedra Jessie Saavedra

an Opioid Prevention Coordinator at Ramsey County Public Health Clinic 555. His career in public health spans more than 3 decades. A tireless community advocate, Jessie Saavedra knows firsthand the challenges of seeking a healthy lifestyle. Jessie shared the disturbing reality of opioid and fentanyl data in Ramsey County. He also touched upon fentanyl strips and the dangers of Xylazine.

Bridgette Norring Bridgette Norring

is a mom who lost her son Devin at age 19 to fentanyl when he purchased what he thought was a Percocet pill on Snap Chat. Brigette shared the heart-breaking details on the loss of her beloved son. Reiterating how intrusive fentanyl is, how just one pill can forever alter the course of one’s life. As parents, she and her husband prided themselves on their diligence in having conversations of drugs and substance use with their children. They didn’t know about fentanyl. Like most families, they learned about it the hard way. Bridgette now uses her pain to fuel the battle towards educating families on this lethal poison. Bridgette is a tireless advocate, bringing awareness to this crisis. She a board member of V.O.I.D. (Victims of Illicit Drugs) and recently founded The Devin Joseph Norring Foundation in honor of her son. The foundation focuses on bringing awareness and support to families, to our youth, to our children.

Message From Bridgette: “Now we're learning how youth that smoke are developing schizophrenia and its exacerbating mental health disorders. Some of the sicknesses that Devin had, I'm learning, were caused by marijuana - again learning everything after the fact. These kids, especially the ones in Hastings, aren't smoking weed. They're smoking THC vapes and dabs that are at an insanely high concentration. This isn't the weed of my day, no ma'am. Plus, we are losing kids who smoked where fentanyl was found laced into their weed. The girl down the block from me, od'd a year ago from a vape that unbeknownst to her contained fentanyl in it.”

Learn more about Bridgette Norring: Source: Hastings Star Gazette

Noah Latzer Noah Latzer

is 23 and has been in recovery for six and a half years. He works as a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist for Minnesota Recovery Connection and Allina Health in their Allina Virtual Addiction Care team, as well as hosting Minnesota Recovery Connection's LGBTQIA+ and Recovery Meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5pm. His work and passion is to help those who struggle with addiction as he once had. Noah did not hold back in sharing his story that led him to try drugs. Being bullied, not fitting in, isolation were key to his path of self-destruction. Noah pointed out the pain inflicted on his mother and credits her for his road to recovery. Highlighting the importance of HOLDING ON to someone you love, having hope and recognizing the addition affects everyone around you.