Jericho Wall dedicated to those who lost lives to addiction

The Jericho Wall of Remembrance and Recovery was dedicated Thursday amid a crowd of people on National Drug Overdose Awareness Day on West Dickson Avenue, just east of the First Christian Church.

Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker was among the speakers.

He said the memorial park was created for families, casualties from addiction.

He said a 10-member planning committee was composed of local ministers, mental health organizations, recovery groups, City Council, business leaders and service organizations.

"The Jericho Wall is 190 feet long and now serves as a prayer ground and a place people can come as a memorial to their family member who they lost in their fight through addiction," Theaker said.

Coroner's investigator, doctor address crowd

Bob Ball, an investigator for the Richland County Coroner's Office, and Dr. Joseph Bocka addressed the crowd, sharing what they have seen as professionals dealing with people who are addicted or who died from addiction.

Ball said in 2016 the local community was hit hard by carfentanyl.

"The first time I experienced Dr. Bocka was in the emergency room and my phone rang 13 times with 13 drug deaths to carfentenyl. Most of those still had the needles in their arms and I learned from that point those people belonged to somebody," Ball said.

"They had families, they had mothers, fathers ― it's very emotional to see this because I've been praying for this for years. This is a miracle right here. This is God right here," Ball said to a round of applause.

"There's nothing any more traumatic than to walk into a family's home where there is somebody who has died from a drug overdose or a death in any way and to listen to the families and what they have experienced," he said.

One man received 26 doses of Narcan

"The biggest case I've ever worked was a young man who went to the emergency room and he was Narcan'ed 26 times," he said, referring to doses of the overdose reversal drug Narcan.

Ball said drug deaths are down this year in Mansfield and Richland County.

Bocka talked about his experience of people overdosing being dropped off in front of OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital.

In the summer of 2016, the community was forever changed because of fentanyl, he said.

"It's 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin and that year we had a record 61 deaths," Bocka said. "There was one day in June we had 13 simultaneous overdoses and Mansfield Fire (department) completely ran out of Narcan," he said.

He said the current doses of the packs of naloxone — the generic version of Narcan — are 10 times stronger than they were back in those days. Since 2016, there have been 347 overdose deaths locally, Bocka added.

Bocka said he has handed out free naloxone many times. He said more than 800 doses of naloxone were given out last year and more than 900 doses have been given out this year so far locally by nonprofit groups, and it is making a difference.

Overdose deaths down 50% from last year

"Richland County overdose deaths went from 52 in 2021 to 39 last year and so far we're this year we're down 50% from where we were last year," he said.

Stories about local people who died as a result of addiction were shared with the crowd, as narrated by Rusty Cates, Lisa Bridges and Aurelio Diaz. The crowd was silent.

Pastor Paul Lintern, who emceed the event and is a member of the Jericho Wall Planning Committee, said more work will be done at the site including building a pavilion.

"This wall, it belongs to all of us. It belongs to every agency. It belongs to every family," he said. "This is ours. The ownership must be transferred to all of us. You have visions, you have ideas. ... Let us keep moving forward," he said, thanking construction groups for their work on the site.

Lintern said to date, 48 names of loved ones who died due to addiction have been requested to be put on the wall.

The minister previously said the park's name “kind of resonates with the walls of Jericho in the Old Testament. Those walls fell down and the walls of addiction need to come down.”

History of Jericho Wall

With many downtown churches and the entire Richland County Mental Health Board invested, the parking area is being transformed with a 190-foot mural wall featuring the work of four artists commissioned as a Public Art Initiative through the RCDG Mansfield Arts and Culture Sector, funded through the Mansfield Rising Plan.

First Christian Church, owners of the parking lot since the 1960s, deeded the land to Project One to be overseers of the park.  Amanda Nichols, director of that recovery service organization, which also operates the ARC Empowerment Center, said the area will help the community of addiction recovery in unique ways.

A stage in the corner provides a way for small groups to gather for ceremonies, meetings, music events and prayer services, becoming another venue for special events related to recovery.

Names of persons who have died of overdose, addiction, or related mental illness concerns will be painted on a portion of the wall, with family permission, to provide a place of remembrance.

“The emphasis of the wall is to remind people that addiction is not an identity, even if it is a reality.  This wall will emphasize who a person is apart from their addiction, created in the image of God,” Lintern said earlier.

The remaining portion of the wall will be painted at community events involving families and friends moving forward.  An oversight committee of persons involved in recovery is planned to sponsor events, add name-placing ceremonies, keep security and cleanliness and maintain funding avenues.

In Thursday's program, numerous people were acknowledged for their donations and assistance, including the planning committee, construction companies, patrons, shareholders and volunteers.

More information is available through jerichowall.info.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Memorial park created for families, casualties from addiction.