A longtime voice in the fight to end opioid abuse addiction recently was honored by Lorain City Council.
Nancy Krasienko received a resolution from Council during its July 18 meeting for her role, according to the council agenda, for “fighting and educating people about the opioid crisis.”
Heroin addiction and has had a devastating effects on families and the community.
Krasienko knows first-hand the pain caused by the crisis.
In 2015, her then 30-year-old daughter Megan Wheeler died from an overdose after ingesting a cocktail of drugs that included heroin and fentanyl.
It ended a nightmarish stretch of years for Krasienko who saw daughter go in and out of rehab, but enjoying stints of sobriety and then relapsing into addiction.
According to the resolution, Krasienko at some point during her daughter’s addiction, received custody of her children and has raised them since.
Krasienko said she’s also done all she can do to fight opioid addiction.
She recently lost her husband.
Despite the personal tragedies, Krasienko said she will continue to fight.
That includes offering counsel to mothers whose children are battling addiction and dealing with the stigma attached to it.
Krasienko also assists a Lorain County task force by speaking to groups about the opioid crisis and the challenges surviving family members face after losing a loved one to addiction.
Additionally, she’s mowed lawns and cleaned-up yards of vacant and abandoned properties in her neighborhood that are magnets for users and dealers to help fight off the scourge of drug use and drug dealing.
Krasienko does this all while always remembering her daughter and others who have died from the opioid crisis.
“We have to share their story,” she said. “We have to speak their names.
“Because if we don’t, heroin wins.”
Lorain Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski presented the resolution to Krasienko that was approved unanimously by the Council, who gave Krasienko a standing ovation at the conclusion of the ceremony.
Ward 1 Councilwoman Beth Henley worked with Springowski on the resolution.
Krasienko lives in Henley’s ward.
Henley, who did not attend the Council meeting because of illness, did prepare remarks that Springowski read.
Henley recalled meeting with Krasienko shortly after Henley was elected in 2017 and walking the neighborhoods.
They came across an abandoned home.
“She said what are we going to do about it?” referring to the house.
Henley said the two women worked together to get the house torn down.
“She’s (Krasienko) a shining diamond,” Henley said.
