Helping Ind. families cope with addiction
Justin Phillips is the type of person who identifies the gaps between problem and solution – the overlooked needs, the frustrating red tape, the fear of stigma. And then she builds bridges.
She is Indiana’s 2024 USA TODAY Woman of the Year honoree.
Phillips founded the statewide nonprofit Overdose Lifeline to help those with substance addictions and the people who love them. She advocated for the Indiana law that allows broad access to naloxone, which is used to reverse an opioid overdose. With her team, she pushed to help more people obtain the medicine through outdoor boxes, vending machines and partners throughout the state. And she spearheaded programs to help those at risk of addiction.
All of these were problem-solving initiatives in response to a tragedy Phillips never thought she’d have to face: the death of her youngest son.
Aaron Sims was a quarterback at Lawrence North High School who loved sports and skateboarding. But as his future took shape, heroin worked its way in. He sought treatment and began to build a life without the drug.
But addiction pulled harder at him. In 2013, Sims died of an overdose at age 20.
In the midst of grief, Phillips began to learn about little-known resources for those affected by substance abuse, about how silence prevailed when it came to addiction-related loss.
“I just was very cognizant of the saying that secrets keep you sick is really true,” she said, “and that I needed to talk about it in order to make a difference for others.”
So Phillips did that. She founded Overdose Lifeline that year and joined with then-state Sen. Jim Merritt to create what’s now know as Aaron’s Law, which opened up naloxone access beyond emergency workers and first responders.
The nonprofit has grown to support those close to people suffering from addiction, too. Aaron’s Place, for example, provides free addiction and drug prevention programs for kids and teens who have family members struggling with substance abuse.
“Someone left a note once that told us that these (naloxone) doses that they had acquired saved their family member,” Phillips said. “Those are the really important things that help me know that the work we’re doing is crucial, and we’re making a huge difference and somehow, Aaron’s loss can matter.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Question: What is your proudest moment?
Answer: I think it’s very cliche, but it feels true that I feel proud about my two surviving children and the adult paths that they’ve had, given the fact that they lost their brother. My daughter in particular was only 13 when she lost her brother, and it’s a hard part of a story to have to bear.
But I also feel really proud when I realize that the work we do at Overdose Lifeline saves people’s lives, and I hear from someone and they tell me, “You know, I was able to save my child, and that child is now in recovery.” It’s hard to say “proud,” right, because I feel like that’s not enough humility. But it makes my heart feel so much better.
What is your definition of courage? My definition of courage is doing it anyway – despite that fact that you’re afraid and even that you don’t actually want to – but getting up and persevering anyway.
What is your guiding principle or your mantra?
One of them is when people show you who they are, believe them. I really appreciate the Teddy Roosevelt quote that Brené Brown has made famous, which is about the critics and that you shouldn’t listen to the critics unless they’re down in the dirt, in the arena, as he said, getting bloody and messy and doing the hard work. There’s plenty of people who are sitting in the cheap seats telling you how you’re doing it wrong, and you just cannot listen to them.