A Valpo Life in the Spotlight: Heather Harrigan Hitz

heather-harrigan"To be the catalyst that ignites and unites the community to reduce substance abuse and achieve transformational outcomes."

This is mission statement of the organization Empower Porter County, which is an initiative created to save lives and create healthy communities by reducing substance abuse. The powerhouse behind this is none other than Heather Harrigan Hitz, Executive Director of the organization.

Before taking on the responsibility as Executive Director, Harrigan Hitz had previously served on the Community Foundation Board of Directors for seven years. The Community Foundation had been working on combating substance abuse since 2005. They came together with United Way and Porter Stark Services and created a study that was conducted by Roosevelt University to identify the heroin problem in the Northwest Indiana region. However, time after time they kept running into same problem: lack of grants. Grants funded programs, but without the necessary grants, these programs saw little success.

"When I was looking at all of the different sectors we were talking about, I realized that this is the biggest onion I've ever seen! There are so many different layers to the problem- there's the kids, adults, geriatrics, alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and prescription drugs. It impacts people in so many different ways," Harrigan Hitz stated about substance abuse.

It was evident that this repetitive failure was not an option. In 2008, further research was continued through local surveys and meetings. The main goal of this was to identify pressing issues in our community; it was clear that substance abuse was a reoccurring one. A backbone organization was necessary to ensure elimination of this problem. In November of 2012, 125 community leaders from across the county met at the Expo Center to discuss the substance abuse issue. Once individuals broke up into sectors and signed letter of commitment, Empower Porter County was officially announced.

A board of directors came together and were responsible of creating a list of qualities that was wanted for the executive director of the program. They outlined a very strict list of qualities, including experience and compassion towards substance abuse. The topic of substance abuse was very dear to her, having a family member struggle with it for seven years. Harrigan Hitz took the plunge and was chosen for the position.

"They didn't want a clinician. They didn't want someone who was going to be technical about therapy and recovery. They wanted somebody who had some empathy and compassion. They wanted someone who had experience with substance abuse at some point in their lives. Having witnessed that within my family, I had to do a lot of soul searching." Harrigan Hitz said in regards to the position.

Harrigan Hitz has held the position since May 2013. After meeting with several different organizations, she has done her research and has identified economic, medical, and societal factors and their impact on substance abuse.

"I made the transition from managing a real estate office to taking on something formless. The first 6 months consisted of me being a human sponge and do whatever needed to be done," Stated Harrigan Hitz.

Empower Porter County's newest initiative was inspired by a study conducted by the National Center of Substance Abuse. For the last 18 years, they have been studying the simple idea of families dining together. It has been proven that the more frequent people eat together (nuclear families), the more knowledge the parents know about their kids' lives. This also results in kids and teens being less anxious because they are open about issues. The more frequently you dine together, the more you know and trust one another.

All in all, meeting such a passionate and poised woman was an honor. Harrigan Hitz constantly strives to make a difference not only in Valparaiso, but throughout the region. I am confident that both Harrigan Hitz and Empower Porter County will take Northwest Indiana by storm.