A Letter From Camelia About Her Son, RJ Parker 1990-2016

My name is Camelia Carter.

I spent 25 years fighting my son's beast.  

You see, RJ experienced trauma after trauma as a direct result of his father's drug and alcohol abuse, my own struggles as a trauma survivor/single mother with numerous health challenges and his own personal traumas as a direct result of his ever-growing drug and alcohol addiction.

The last 10 years were the worst.

Nothing I did or said would or could help him. 
Outside help was often difficult, if not impossible to find.  
Resources were scarce at best.  

The system repeatedly worked against him and eventually failed him altogether. 

I could not help him, no matter how hard I tried.
No one could.  
Many tried and all failed.

Most times, the only thing I could do was watch as my precious son change from a sweet, caring, amazing young man into every mother's worst nightmare.

But I never stopped fighting for him!

On May 29th, 2016, I lost my beautiful son, Rusty-James (RJ) Parker to a fentanyl overdose.
 

My original mission began as a DEMAND FOR A NATIONAL STATE OF EMERGENCY to address the opioid epidemic with the founding an organization called No More Heroin.

Now that THAT mission has been accomplished, this page remains online so that my grandson, Ryder James Parker Long, (who was adopted away from my family) can find me and learn the true story about me and his Daddy.