Listen Back: Kingscourt woman 30 years supporting families traumatised by addiction. For up to 30 years a Kingscourt woman has been supporting families traumatised by addiction; alongside her sister.
Founder and voluntary Family Support Coordinator, Gwen McKenna says addiction impacts entire families, not just the individuals.
The Family Addiction Support Network (FASN) supports families right across the region and the North East.
The FASN operates across Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan. Gwen says she started out supporting families because in the 1990s there was no services available locally to help these families.
She said if you have an individual addicted to drugs, addiction will impact on average 6 others in the family.
Gwen says there is a stigma surrounding families of people who are using drugs. Meanwhile, Gwen is delighted that from next week FASN will open a location in Monaghan Town.
She also highlighted a special event planned for this Sunday morning in Shercock that will see her and others take on 5kms to raise much needed funds. Ronan Gargan sat down with Gwen earlier to find out more.
