Rae of Change: Lucy's legacy

ST. JOHN — The Lautenschlager family has made it their mission to raise awareness and bring change to honor their daughter’s memory.

The nonprofit organization is in honor of Lautenschlager, who passed away a year ago on Oct. 13, from a fentanyl overdose.

Jodi Lautenschlager, her mother, said the nonprofit organization is an outreach to the surrounding communities to find resources to help others.

“We did not have those resources to help lucy,” said Lautenschlager, noting they are trying to find a way to get resources down on paper to hand out.

Rae of Change Executive Assistant Sharon Herridge said the family started the nonprofit with the mission to talk about addiction.

“We struggled with Lucy for fifteen years with drug addiction and we, as a family, could not get help for her,” Lautenschlager said. “The only way that we can help people is to be upfront and honest and find ways to help people.”

“In these small towns it is kind of hush-hush,” said Herridge, adding that the nonprofit is just getting off the ground and is participating at the Drug Take Back on Saturday, Oct. 26, outside of the Colfax library.

“No one should face the challenges of addiction alone,” states the nonprofit website.

The nonprofit’s key objectives are to raise awareness of drug abuse by educating communities, schools and families about the risk and offering support and resources including counseling and peer support to individuals and families affected by addiction.

Rae of Change is seeking to advocate and create policy reform to improve addiction prevention, treatment methods and reducing the stigma surrounding addiction.

In addition to raising funds to support addiction research and contributing to prevention, intervention and recovery methods, Rae of Change is planning memorial events and awareness campaigns to inspire hope.

“We are hosting our first dinner engagement and we are inviting Whitman County residents,” said Herridge.

The dinner will have members of the Lautenschlager family speak, Undersheriff Chris Chapman and CEO of Union Gospel Mission Phil Altmeyer. “It is going to be a lively event with many wonderful speakers,” said Lautenschlager, adding there will be many people who have been affected by drug addiction in the communities to talk about it.

The event will be at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, at the Colfax Fairgrounds. Tickets can be purchased at https://raeofchange.org.

For the Lautenshlager family, the nonprofit mission is about turning Lucy’s story into a beacon of hope for those who face similar challenges.

“We just want to help people,” Lautenschlager said, “We want people to feel free and come to us. We may not have answers but maybe we could lead them in the right way to find those answers.”