Reporting through trauma: Investigating the opioid crisis while my father was homeless

Compelling personal stories
told by the people living them.

My father is an alcoholic, but I’ve always felt the need to further explain his addiction. Alcoholism doesn’t seem to quite cut it. My father drank excessively, deeply. He’d drink dozens of Coors Lights until he was steeped in psychosis. Eventually, his drinking and behavior became so violent, he was evicted. It was winter in Pittsburgh. He had no heat. No water. He walked out of his trailer, into the naked trees and didn’t stop.

Somehow, I found him.

I picked him up on the side of the highway in the snow. He hadn’t showered in weeks and his teeth ached from decay.

Every day, I feared a phone call from the coroner.

But, it’s my job to call the coroner. 

From 2017 to 2018, I investigated the opioid crisis in Southwestern Pennsylvania. In January 2018, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a 90-day statewide disaster declaration. This declaration has been renewed every 90 days and is still in effect as of July 2019.

Read entire article at:

Reporting through trauma: Investigating the opioid crisis while my father was homeless