If attendees took one thing away from Katie Bergemann’s story of opioid recovery Tuesday, she hoped it was the importance of checking up on a loved one through their struggles.
“Don’t lose hope in them,” said Bergemann, who grew up on a farm in Garden City.
Bergemann spread the message during a community education event in Mankato on the opioid and fentanyl crisis.
She talked about drug use starting in high school escalating into hard drugs in college. Later it got to the point where her paycheck was going toward pills, she was stealing from work and family members, and arrest warrants were piling up.
Eventually she accepted help in the form of treatment at Wellcome Manor Family Services back in Garden City. She also signed up for Blue Earth County’s drug court program, which she called one of the “biggest blessings I could’ve ever asked for.”
Now a mother of two, she finds comfort in sharing her story so maybe others will think twice about going through what she did.
The idea for the event started when the family of Travis Gustavson, who died of fentanyl poisoning in Mankato in 2021, approached the Greater Mankato Area United Way about ways to raise awareness about the fentanyl crisis, said Barb Kaus, the nonprofit’s CEO. Its format followed the spirit of a suicide prevention event convened by the United Way in 2022.
Bergemann joined Blue Earth County Sheriff Jeff Wersal and former correctional officer Kara Richardson, who is also in recovery and is a local recovery advocate, in speaking at the event before a question-and-answer session.
Wersal, who was commander of the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force before becoming sheriff, presented statistics exemplifying the rise of fentanyl in the Mankato area. Task force agents went from seizing three fentanyl pills in 2019 to 3,820 in 2022 to 7,934 in 2024, according to Wersal.
Citing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Wersal said the vast majority of illegal fentanyl in the U.S. comes through the U.S.-Mexico border. When it first became available the people dying from it didn’t know they were buying it, he added, but now it’s become common enough for many drug users with higher tolerances to ask for it.
The rise in overdose deaths in the U.S. and Minnesota is tied to how fatal fentanyl is compared to other drugs. It is often found mixed with other drugs.
“Drug use isn’t more common, it’s more dangerous,” Wersal said of the ongoing crisis.
Richardson talked about being in recovery and getting a job as a correctional officer, where she’d respond to inmates going through withdrawals. It was heartbreaking to see, she said.
She encouraged the use of the overdose reversal drug Narcan, pointing out how it had saved people’s lives in the room Tuesday. Sharing resources and talking about the issue will only help, she added.
“I know it doesn’t bring them back,” she said of the people lost to overdoses. “But we’ll keep trying to do what we can do to bring awareness and combat stigma around it.”
Resource tables at the event had Narcan and other resources available for free. The Gustavson family was among the groups setting up a table outside or in the back of the room.
Matt DuRose, the acting director of the Mankato Department of Public Safety, and Tina Olson, treatment director of crisis services at Horizon Homes, joined the speakers for a panel to answer audience questions.
Responding to a question about Narcan, both DuRose and Wersal brought it up as an extremely important resource in an emergency. It’s a good first step until emergency services gets there, Wersal said.
First responders in Mankato carry it, DuRose said, and it has become more widely available at schools.
Another question asked about the legalization of marijuana and whether it would lead to more drug abuse.
Wersal expressed concern about Minnesota leaning toward legalization of more drugs, similar to what Oregon did. In 2020 Oregon voters approved the legalization of small amounts of hard drugs. The state is now backtracking on the measure, DuRose said.
Speaking from a treatment perspective, Olson said legalization sent a bad message to young people. They may think legalizing it means it’s safe for everyone.
One question asked about what options families have when a loved one is abusing drugs and refuses to seek treatment. Madalyn Otto, an attendee, said she wanted to know this because while there are resources out there, a family can feel helpless knowing they can’t force a loved one to get help.
There are commitment options in some cases, Olson said, but laws generally prevent someone from being forced into treatment. Families may just have to keep providing the necessary information to their loved one until the person sees the need for help.
“It’s really providing that support and that safety net to say ‘We’re here when you’re ready, but you have to be ready,’” she said.
Patience and persistence can eventually pay off, Olson added later.
“There is help out there, there is support out there, there is something available,” she said. “At some point that is going to stick.”
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