We feel very fortunate to have Michele on the podcast to share her story of turning the tragic loss of her son into advocacy.
Michele Hein is the Co-Founder and Board Chairwoman of the Fentanyl Free Communities Foundation. She brings her personal experience, passion, and dedication to the forefront of the organization’s mission. Michele’s journey to advocacy was born out of personal tragedy when she lost her son, Tyler, to fentanyl poisoning, in July 2020.
Tyler, a young man who radiated joy, loved music and the outdoors, and had a heart for helping others, left an indelible mark on everyone he met. His loss has profoundly shaped Michele’s life and mission, transforming her into a passionate advocate against the fentanyl crisis that is ravaging communities across the nation.
In the wake of this devastating event, Michele has channeled her grief into action. She has become a powerful voice in the fight against fentanyl, using her personal story to connect with others, inspire action, and raise awareness about the dangers of this lethal drug.
Her advocacy work extends beyond awareness-raising, pushing for policy changes aimed at disrupting the supply chain of these harmful substances and holding those distributing them accountable. Michele’s greatest joys are her granddaughter & grandson, husband, daughter, son-in-law and elderly mom.
Resources:
Fentanyl Free Communities
LinkedIn
Transcript
John Simon Sr. 00:08
Welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 00:16
and I'm Dina Simon.
John Simon Sr. 00:18
Our guest today is Michelle hein. Michelle is the chair of the fentanyl free Communities Foundation. Michelle, welcome to the podcast.
Michele Hein 00:28
Thanks, John. Thanks. Dina. I'm glad to be here.
John Simon Sr. 00:30
Great. Michelle, why don't you tell our podcast listeners a little bit about yourself and where you live and maybe what you like to do in your spare time. So
Michele Hein 00:40
I live in Lindstrom, Minnesota. I've been here living here. We've been here for seven years. My husband and I, we bought our home as our cabin nine years ago, and two years in, my husband came home from work one day, and I had the car packed, and he said, why are all your clothes in the car? And I said, I'm moving to Lindstrom. He said, Am I coming? I said, what? You can come too, and we moved up here and made that, for lack of a better term, horrendous drive to and from the cities. I did it for five years, and my husband's still doing it, but it's just, it's a beautiful community, and we live on a lake, and solve it was just a no brainer for me. And we moved from Stillwater, where we raise our family.
John Simon Sr. 01:21
What a great town still water is. I had an opportunity to go there this past summer when my wife and I were in town, and Dina and rich took us down, and we had a great lunch down there, but just a pretty little town with great little shops. Yeah, we loved it.
Dina Simon 01:36
Yeah, it is great, and it is funny, because we've had a lot of conversations on the podcast, actually about Stillwater, but Lindstrom. So Lindstrom we drive through when we go up to our cabin at Boston Lake, Wisconsin. And Lindstrom is a darling town, so I'm so glad that you did that. And it is, is it about from when you were coming back in every day, about an hour, at least 50
Michele Hein 01:56
minutes, with knowing what decent traffic I feel like I joke, but it's true, anywhere I go now, it's 50 minutes. Sure. Go north, if I go south, if I come to a meeting with you, it's 50 minutes,
Dina Simon 02:08
right, right. So living in Lindstrom, so soldier place in Stillwater, you're up there full time, and you let your husband come with you, which is awesome.
Michele Hein 02:17
I was hoping you would say yes. Then I was continuing to work. I was working out of Bolden Valley, and then covid hit, and we tragically lost our son, Tyler, to fentanyl on July 18, 2020, so you had covid Kicking off in January, February, March. We lost Tyler in July. We were told to stay home in March and work right. It's just, we're all we have just, we're just rolling along, not very nicely. And I continued to work for another year and a half. And then in February of 22 I decided to retire because my heart and my passion wasn't in my job anymore, and I loved every day that I went to my job. I loved my sales job. I loved the people. I loved helping them market their companies and just being part of a community of not only the people I worked with, but my clients chambers of commerce, where I think you and I have had done some work together, and then I had always had in the back and right hand that I wanted to start a foundation in memory of Tyler. But you start reading the pages and pages and pages of the three different types of nonprofits you can have in Minnesota, and you're just your head explodes, right? I don't know which one is the right one, and I want to do my due diligence and make sure the money is being spent correctly and all the things that go around that. So I'm going to back up a little bit first, because I want to tell you about fentanyl free communities, but I'm more interested in telling you about Tyler. We would love that we're coming up on four years his angel Versary is what US grieving parents call it, and it was a really rough time in our life. Tyler was a three sport athlete in high school, he played in the court Concert Orchestra. Started in fifth grade and played through Concert Orchestra in high school, through graduation, he became a United States Marine a few months after he graduated from high school, and Tyler struggled with mental health issues and ended up taking their pain away from whatever the pain was, whether it was physical pain because he had a lot of accidents and or mental pain by taking illicit drugs, he ended up going to treatment in March. Show 2020 and it was during covid. So he ended up in a room with one roommate, and saw one nurse a day and no other human contact. They had the video chat, you know, the video meetings and the books they had to read. And he did really well for three weeks. And then one day he called us, and his eyes were bright, and our Tyler was back and and he called one day and said, I need to come home. I need to check out of here. And we said, Well, you haven't been there long enough. And against his counselor's wishes and our wishes, he came home, we allowed him to come here, as long as he continued to work, work his recovery, which was a three hour meeting. Every night, he'd come in, I'd hand him a plate of food, he'd run down to the basement, do his three hour meeting, eat his dinner. And we did that for several months. Unfortunately, in the time frame that that was happening, his friend dealer was reaching out to him asking if he wanted to buy and Tyler, we have texts on his phone. No, dude, I'm I'm sober, I'm working recovery. I'm doing great. You should come to a meeting. You should check this out. He was like, trying to turn it back on him, and for some reason, there doesn't time. He prayed on him, on Tyler a bit. And you know, we know addiction is a disease, and it's a very, very hard to come back from. It's possible, but you just didn't give it enough time. I'm not even saying that, first time, maybe second time, third time. So we lost our only son, and he was the light of so many people's lives, so many people have pulled us since then that he helped them through their recovery. They'd walk into a party or an event with him, and they'd feel like he was they were walking in with with a celebrity, and he was the funniest guy in the room. So all of this and more, the day he died, our daughter and Jerry and I vowed to be secret. No more. Nobody knew this was going on, not even our best friends, because it's a painful and powerful disease, and you have hope that it's going to get better, and Tyler accomplished everything you've ever set his mind to. And we had hope it wouldn't get to this point, or get to a point where anybody would have to know. So we vowed to make sure and be honest about what happened and fight this fight with all we have. So that's what brings us to today.
Dina Simon 07:29
And you're fighting and fighting. So you started. So let's start there. Let's talk about the nonprofit that you are. You co founded. So let's, let's start right there. Okay,
Michele Hein 07:39
in February of 22 I had a rally on the front lawn of the state capitol fentanyl awareness route. Then it drew several people. We had, like, hundreds of people. We had legislators speaking. There are several bills at the legislature that had been on the docket year after year. So I jumped on board and thought, let's see what I can do to help. It didn't pass those the bills didn't pass that year. So the following year, I used to work for a printer, so they print everything for me for free. And so they jumped on board and said, let us know what you need. So we printed up brochures and put them in every senator and House of Representatives mailboxes, and then had a rally and a faces of fentanyl display in the north corridor. So the House of Representatives, every day they were there, they had to walk by these faces and stories and learn about why of the death of by fentanyl. And the rally we had in the rotunda talked to increasing the penalties for fentanyl distribution and possession to at least equal that of heroin. Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, and it was prosecuted at a lesser amount. So that was the one thing. The other thing was to get Narcan in schools. Another organization and other legislators had been championing this for years. We tried to help them get it through by saying every school needs a couple doses of Narcan. Fortunately, it got passed last year as well, so every public and charter school have doses of Narcan on site at all times. Then February, I got a call from a prosecutor, Paul Ostro out of Anoka County, and he said, I saw you in the Star Tribune, and I got you so I called them and got your name. And I'm going to retire in December, and I want to fight the Fentanyl crisis, and I see you're doing that too, so let you want to get together and have lunch. So we met with him and a consultant that he had hired to actually try to put this together as well. And we haven't looked back. We agreed then and there. My husband met with them. We pulled together a an incredible board. Or directors, public servants, family members who have lost loved ones, community activists, obviously, law enforcement and we are here and dedicated to safeguarding the futures of Minnesota families and making the Minnesota fentanyl free might take 10 years, and it might take less if other drugs, which are already on the scene and that are deadlier than fentanyl, but that's what our goal is, because it can be hidden in any straight drug. And so we are raising awareness and educating and making law changes at the legislature, all in an effort to save lives. Very powerful,
Dina Simon 10:41
yeah, yeah, yeah,
Michele Hein 10:42
the deputy Drug Enforcement Administration administrator, Ann wilgren, you'll see. You've probably already seen her on TV and in the news, but she said in 2022 that fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered, and we just have to what we have to do is we need to get families and parents would think that they feel bad for us who have lost a child to understand that it very well could happen to their family, even though they say it won't happen to my child and my family? Sure? Yeah, yeah, Bob, I urge them to think again, because there are hundreds of 1000s of stories like mine that it happens to people like us, and it's being hidden in every single illicit street job today. It used just being heroin, and it used to, then it went to methamphetamine. It's It's in everything. It's even being found in marijuana well.
Dina Simon 11:51
And as you said, so it has to just this. And like so many other topics, we just have to be talking about it. We have to raise the awareness.
Michele Hein 12:00
And it seems so simple, doesn't it? Dina, just talk about it. Talk to your friends, talk to your children, just so they have it in the back of their mind, right, right?
John Simon Sr. 12:10
I believe the two biggest issues we face are the opioid crisis and mental health. Those two issues have affected so many people, so many families, and we're not doing enough about it.
Michele Hein 12:23
I have to say we're doing more than when I can't say it, but we do have a lot more work to do. We need to destigmatize the issues around mental health and substance use disorder. You know, a campaign of ours might be to get out there and say, just, almost like just stop and think before you take that pill or but that's going to work. That's going to work going to the kids who may not have opiate use disorder right now, or recreational drug use that might work for them, but for those people who have the disease of substance use disorder, it's very, very hard to get them to think, don't use now pyler, he did not go out to buy a pill with fentanyl in it, but did he know it could potentially be in there? Yes. So that's again, where the disease is so strong that it just overtakes the fact that he potentially could die.
John Simon Sr. 13:25
The one thing that struck me as I was doing a little bit of research, and I went to the CDC website to take a look, and it's four little words, one pill can kill. And boy, that to me, those four words meant more than anything that I read on that entire website. Yeah,
Michele Hein 13:44
you hear stories of a kid that went to a party and there was a kid passing her own pills, and no, I'll pass then everybody takes one, and they're all they seem to be having a good time and having fun. And the guy comes back says, Hey, we're gonna take bill. He's like, Oh, you guys seem to be having a lot of fun, sure. What will it hurt in his pill contains at least two milligrams of fentanyl, and he dies? I mean, that's those are the heartbreaking, not that they're not all heartbreaking, but those stories are absolutely preventable, if we just have in the back of their head that that can happen. Yes,
Dina Simon 14:21
well, and Michelle, I think, I think I had shared with you, and John knows about it, but when Mandy, you know, when you we have kids off of college, right? So Mandy was at college, and she had some major back issues going on, and when she we told her to go to the hospital, and when she left the hospital, they sent her home with extremely potent drugs, and when we heard about it, we're like, No, you cannot take that like we have got to get you back with your regular doctor on Monday. We got to figure something out, because once you start, you know that that's where these things happen. And we were just so angry, because even that she is 20 years old. She's a college kid, and they prescribed it for her right, and she leaves the hospital and and as a parent, we don't have a whole lot of rights when your kid is 20. Yet, I still contacted the doctors to say you have got to get her off this med. And she, I think, ended up taking one or two because she was in so much pain, like so one day, two days, and then she was so afraid, because we were so afraid. But she could have, she could they could have sent her home with it. She could have, you know, taken the entire bottle throughout the couple weeks that they wanted her to take it, and we could have not known anything about it. And that's how these things happen. And
Michele Hein 15:38
she may have been okay, but we don't know if the opiate receptors in her brain would have loved it and changed her and
John Simon Sr. 15:50
to show you how the drugs worked, in August of 2020, I had triple bypass surgery, and when I left the hospital, they gave me a prescription that my wife went and filled it was 56 hydrocodone pills in one prescription. 56 I we filled it. I never took one of them, because you become afraid, and I didn't have that much pain to me anyhow, that I didn't want to take it because I knew what the possibilities were. Whenever you start, somebody sits there and say, how do you make a decision? He is owing 56 of them at one time. Well, I
Michele Hein 16:28
find that interesting in 2020 because there's been a real crackdown on how many pills that doctors can prescribe now of opiates, because they the Big Pharma started the opioid crisis in the 90s. Wow, I can't believe they sent you over 56
Dina Simon 16:44
Yeah, we when Mandy was home just recently, we showed up at CVS and a big bag of all unused pills and that we've had and all prescribed, right, and just threw through them in their bin.
Michele Hein 16:58
And a note for the public as well is that most, I'm going to say, all police departments have a pill take back day or days throughout the year. And some departments also have their receptacles there year round that you can drop any unused prescriptions. Don't ever leave those in your cabinets. Ever, you never know who's going to go in there and take them. Right, right. It does happen. And then, on the other hand, John, you're talking about the the prescription you got, Tyler in September of 2019 broke his tibia and fibia in a skateboarding accident, and when he left the hospital, they gave him four pill, and it wasn't enough. He was in so much pain. And I think that he, well, I know he walked up the streets to to relieve his pain.
Dina Simon 17:45
Well, Michelle, the work that you're doing, so this is what is consuming your professional life, right? So this is and so exciting, because we've known each other for a long time, and just the amazing connections that you have also like what you talked about. So the printing is free. You have a gala coming up, and yes, and I've seen just some of the amazing sponsors, and just you have so many amazing connections with people that want to support, not only you and Tyler's memory, but just continue to raise awareness. And anything that you are a part of is something that they know is going to be an amazing event and opportunity. So share just a second about the gala, and then just kind of what's next for you guys and what you're working on from the organization, the nonprofit. So
Michele Hein 18:31
we're holding our first or I should, I'm going to say our inaugural Gala. I'm not certain there's going to be a first, second, third, fourth, but what I Sure, yeah, we're inaugural gala at southview Country Club on Friday, May 7. It's from six to nine. We'll have a social hour and silent auction with some great silent auction items. We've already received signed memorabilia from the twins of the Vikings in the wild. A chef has offered a six course meal for six people in his home or yours. We just have some really fun, fun items are me, and we have a great lineup for our program. It'll be an hour long right after dinner, and a plated, seated dinner, by the way, and we have confirmed Sheriff DeWanna Witt from Hennepin County will be speaking. Congresswoman Angie Craig will be speaking as well. She has been a wonderful supporter of Jerry and I since day one. Oh, and just to note, we're not in her district. We can't vote for her. Cannot do anything for her, right? But she feels very strongly about this, and not only supports us at the local level, but does what she can at the at the national level, also, we are putting together a panel of four young adults in recovery that we're going to have a panel with a 1520, minute question and answer from the audience so they can hear that you can recover from fentanyl. It's never an easy road, but these young people are. We'll be able to share how it is possible, and hopefully that'll give somebody hope. And everything that we're doing, it's to build a legacy around Tyler's life. But it really is about everybody that's lost someone you know, the moms get all the attention when they when a child passes, the dads get some, the grandmas and grandpas barely any. The siblings sometimes are brought up, but it's something that everybody needs to know and understand so they can save a loved one or an acquaintance or anybody else in life. There are so many communities that are being hit hard. Every community is being hit, but there are communities that are being hit harder, and we do work with those communities as well, because it's really important. You know, I had somebody comment on a Facebook post one time or a LinkedIn I don't remember, where were all you white women when the map phase was going on in downtown many I can't even remember what he said, but I read it and I just, I lost my breath. I wish I would have known, right, right? I would have been doing something by now. I didn't know about fentanyl until seven months before Tyler died, right? Right? I don't want other people to know that. So I digress. I went from a beautiful, fun filled, hope filled evening of the college that I have to tell you, it's that important.
Dina Simon 21:29
Yes, it is. And you, you, I'm sure, have learned, I mean, you're, you know, the haters are going to hate, right, like you, so you've got to be very careful as to how you let those types of feedback, you know, affect you and
Michele Hein 21:44
and I also, we try to reply. We have a few of us specifically that reply to all posts. I sent a note right away and said, everybody, give it 24 hours. Won't let me react. Yes, yes. I ended up replying and saying exactly that. I wish I would have known, and I wish I would have been there to help, and I would have been, but that's just not the way
Dina Simon 22:07
it worked. No, and it can't be all on. Michelle Hein,
Michele Hein 22:10
and I am doing something now. So like, Yes, you are with what are you doing? Right? Yes, exactly.
John Simon Sr. 22:16
So Michelle, you were tired in February of 2022, and is Jerry still working?
Michele Hein 22:23
Yeah, he's going to retire in March of 25 but one more,
Dina Simon 22:27
yeah, what's his next act? What's he going to do?
Michele Hein 22:30
We're not sure. He's got a lot of irons in the fire. He has. He started a business 27 years ago, and I can't, and it's a very successful company now, and I can't see him not doing something, and neither can he somebody's got some amazing national consulting opportunities he could take on. He's also talked about opening a bait shop, or even working at a bait shop. So the sky's the limit.
Dina Simon 22:55
That's great. And Michelle, you have a daughter we do, and I think two grandchildren
Michele Hein 23:01
we do, and they're the wealth of our lives, and this is another reason we do this work. I never want them to even know that this thing existed. We just
Dina Simon 23:10
want it to be gone, right? And do they live close to you? They live in
Michele Hein 23:14
San Francisco, but they are moving home in July. Yay. Yeah. I have so much to be thankful for, and that's what we try to remember we have since day one. Some days are harder. Some days you get gut punched, but if you can wake up then say a quick prayer and Promise yourself that you will find joy in every day. You can do it. If I can do it, you can do it absolutely. And we welcome anyone to find us online. We're on every social media platform out there, even if they just need support. We have resources we can direct them to. We're very well connected to everything they need to be able to get through, maybe a family substance use issue or a mental health issue, don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Dina Simon 24:11
Yeah, well, and we'll make sure that we share all of the links so that people know how to get in touch with you and help promote the gala. Are there still tickets to the gala. There are,
Michele Hein 24:21
yes, yeah, awesome. And that can all be found on our website as well. And we'll be sending invoice invitations. Invoices. Was that invitations out in a couple of weeks.
Dina Simon 24:33
I used to be a client, so there you go, right? I'm gonna send you a good one.
John Simon Sr. 24:38
So for those listening, you can't see what Dina and I just saw the minute Michelle started talking about the two grandchildren, she got closer to the camera, and her face just went out. You can't see that on a podcast, but we saw they,
Michele Hein 24:52
they're incredible. I can't you know they say there's nothing like grandchildren, then you don't understand it until. Your grand grammar? Grammar? Yeah, you cannot. What are they gonna call you? Everybody's like, Oh, what are you gonna have the kids call you? And I was like, what, grandma? But I don't know. And one day I got a call from my daughter. She said, Mom, we're teaching Jovi Spanish, and she is a went to a Spanish Immersion day kit, and she said she's saying BIA media. And so what's that? Does that? Does that mean grandma and in Spanish? And I said, No, that's abuela. And Joby came into the picture, and she said, and pointed at me, and I told me, BIA. So BIA and I love being. I love it well.
John Simon Sr. 25:41
And generally, the first grandchild, abramowski grandparents, and then all the other ones pick up after that, see, and
Dina Simon 25:47
I had no clue. I had no clue. Well, I'm glad they're moving back to you. Yeah, me too. They'll
Michele Hein 25:53
be living out west a little bit. So, yeah, yeah, United
Dina Simon 25:56
Minnesota, right, right, right, right.
Michele Hein 26:00
I guess what? 50 minutes from where I live,
Dina Simon 26:03
there you go. Everything's 50 minutes. Yes, so Michelle, we have we've known each other for a long time. I thank you for everything that you did to help us with Simon says give we certainly you did a lot of printing and promo stuff for us, but you also volunteered. You were part of our birthday celebrations team, and you were there for me a lot as well, right when we were trying to raise funds and connecting me with people. So also love that you are now having your own nonprofit, and you know, anything I can do to support you, I'll be there for you. I will be out of the country on the 17th of May, so I won't be able to come to the gala, but boys to Dina, right? But I'm so excited that you're doing that and just again everything that it takes the momentum right, and the awareness and continuing to get the story out there. And what a great way to do that well.
Michele Hein 26:51
And I still appreciate you having me on the podcast. We need to get this out through every means available, but it's not always. It's never the funnest thing to talk about, but it has to be talked about. We have to make sure families and parents know and young adults in particular, because opioid overdoses are the leading cause of death in people 18 to 45 and 75 to 80% of those had a lethal dose of fentanyl. Okay, so you don't actually take a Percocet or an Adderall pill and more. Adderall is a bad example, Percocet or an oxy pill and lace it with fentanyl. These pills are being the precursor chemicals are coming from China. 97% of the precursor chemicals come from China. Go through Mexico, they press the pills or make the powder and get them into the United States. Last year, it was seven out of 10 seized pills contained fentanyl. They just came out with a new stat. Have to update my brochures again, eight out of 10 pressed pills contain unleatheable dose of fentanyl. It's horrifying. And you've seen the seizures. You saw the Dakota Cowie seizure last week or the week before? Yeah, hundreds of 1000s of pills being seized. Thankfully,
Dina Simon 28:11
right? Yes, thankfully, thankfully, yes. Well, we want you to keep spreading the word, that's for sure. And
Michele Hein 28:19
thank you guys too. Well. Again, I appreciate you guys reaching out.
John Simon Sr. 28:23
I wanted to thank you for sharing with me your story and what you're doing for everyone else. And I know, I know your thoughts are, if you save one person, yeah, that's what it's all about, one at a time.
Michele Hein 28:37
Yes, it is. That's exactly what we all what we all say every day, why are we doing this? Because we're going to save lives. Absolutely,
Dina Simon 28:44
yes, yes. And as you said, we've talked about this is it's so hard to know. You know, it takes hearing this message over and over and finding information, and so it's hard to gage, you know, how many people we can save with getting the message out there, but just knowing that that that conversation is out there and will help somebody and and resources, people like you said, resources here. Where do you turn some so often, that's the question. I just don't even know where to go to get the help. And so for the resources that you have available and the connectivity,
Michele Hein 29:19
right? And if you, if there's people out there that like stats, go on to any CDC, MDH, MHS, or even your public county health websites, and you'll find all the statistics you need to know on from local all the way up to national. And that will that'll open your eyes as well. They've got charts, they've got stats, and they're all current.
John Simon Sr. 29:46
I know it opened my whenever I went to the CDC, yeah,
Dina Simon 29:49
yeah, yeah. Well, we appreciate it, because we do have, we have a lot of young people in our families, and it's a conversation that, as you said, it's hard to have. Of but it's one that needs to be had so that it doesn't happen to to our families, right? It's all about awareness.
Michele Hein 30:06
These these docs are definitely preventable, yeah?
Dina Simon 30:11
Well, Michelle, we thank you so much for being on the podcast and having this important conversation.
Michele Hein 30:16
Thanks, Dina, thanks, John, thank you.
Dina Simon 30:20
I would like to thank Michelle Hein for a conversation that is one, you know, certainly difficult to have, but we all need to be having these conversations and build awareness. So I thank her so much for her willingness to do that today and sharing her her story, Tyler's story and the great work that they are doing. We will make sure that you know how to get in touch with her in the show notes. But anybody that wants to rally with her and get involved, I know that she would love that support. As always, I would like to thank my father in law, John Simon, for CO hosting with me and until we talk again. You
Welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 00:16
and I'm Dina Simon.
John Simon Sr. 00:18
Our guest today is Michelle hein. Michelle is the chair of the fentanyl free Communities Foundation. Michelle, welcome to the podcast.
Michele Hein 00:28
Thanks, John. Thanks. Dina. I'm glad to be here.
John Simon Sr. 00:30
Great. Michelle, why don't you tell our podcast listeners a little bit about yourself and where you live and maybe what you like to do in your spare time. So
Michele Hein 00:40
I live in Lindstrom, Minnesota. I've been here living here. We've been here for seven years. My husband and I, we bought our home as our cabin nine years ago, and two years in, my husband came home from work one day, and I had the car packed, and he said, why are all your clothes in the car? And I said, I'm moving to Lindstrom. He said, Am I coming? I said, what? You can come too, and we moved up here and made that, for lack of a better term, horrendous drive to and from the cities. I did it for five years, and my husband's still doing it, but it's just, it's a beautiful community, and we live on a lake, and solve it was just a no brainer for me. And we moved from Stillwater, where we raise our family.
John Simon Sr. 01:21
What a great town still water is. I had an opportunity to go there this past summer when my wife and I were in town, and Dina and rich took us down, and we had a great lunch down there, but just a pretty little town with great little shops. Yeah, we loved it.
Dina Simon 01:36
Yeah, it is great, and it is funny, because we've had a lot of conversations on the podcast, actually about Stillwater, but Lindstrom. So Lindstrom we drive through when we go up to our cabin at Boston Lake, Wisconsin. And Lindstrom is a darling town, so I'm so glad that you did that. And it is, is it about from when you were coming back in every day, about an hour, at least 50
Michele Hein 01:56
minutes, with knowing what decent traffic I feel like I joke, but it's true, anywhere I go now, it's 50 minutes. Sure. Go north, if I go south, if I come to a meeting with you, it's 50 minutes,
Dina Simon 02:08
right, right. So living in Lindstrom, so soldier place in Stillwater, you're up there full time, and you let your husband come with you, which is awesome.
Michele Hein 02:17
I was hoping you would say yes. Then I was continuing to work. I was working out of Bolden Valley, and then covid hit, and we tragically lost our son, Tyler, to fentanyl on July 18, 2020, so you had covid Kicking off in January, February, March. We lost Tyler in July. We were told to stay home in March and work right. It's just, we're all we have just, we're just rolling along, not very nicely. And I continued to work for another year and a half. And then in February of 22 I decided to retire because my heart and my passion wasn't in my job anymore, and I loved every day that I went to my job. I loved my sales job. I loved the people. I loved helping them market their companies and just being part of a community of not only the people I worked with, but my clients chambers of commerce, where I think you and I have had done some work together, and then I had always had in the back and right hand that I wanted to start a foundation in memory of Tyler. But you start reading the pages and pages and pages of the three different types of nonprofits you can have in Minnesota, and you're just your head explodes, right? I don't know which one is the right one, and I want to do my due diligence and make sure the money is being spent correctly and all the things that go around that. So I'm going to back up a little bit first, because I want to tell you about fentanyl free communities, but I'm more interested in telling you about Tyler. We would love that we're coming up on four years his angel Versary is what US grieving parents call it, and it was a really rough time in our life. Tyler was a three sport athlete in high school, he played in the court Concert Orchestra. Started in fifth grade and played through Concert Orchestra in high school, through graduation, he became a United States Marine a few months after he graduated from high school, and Tyler struggled with mental health issues and ended up taking their pain away from whatever the pain was, whether it was physical pain because he had a lot of accidents and or mental pain by taking illicit drugs, he ended up going to treatment in March. Show 2020 and it was during covid. So he ended up in a room with one roommate, and saw one nurse a day and no other human contact. They had the video chat, you know, the video meetings and the books they had to read. And he did really well for three weeks. And then one day he called us, and his eyes were bright, and our Tyler was back and and he called one day and said, I need to come home. I need to check out of here. And we said, Well, you haven't been there long enough. And against his counselor's wishes and our wishes, he came home, we allowed him to come here, as long as he continued to work, work his recovery, which was a three hour meeting. Every night, he'd come in, I'd hand him a plate of food, he'd run down to the basement, do his three hour meeting, eat his dinner. And we did that for several months. Unfortunately, in the time frame that that was happening, his friend dealer was reaching out to him asking if he wanted to buy and Tyler, we have texts on his phone. No, dude, I'm I'm sober, I'm working recovery. I'm doing great. You should come to a meeting. You should check this out. He was like, trying to turn it back on him, and for some reason, there doesn't time. He prayed on him, on Tyler a bit. And you know, we know addiction is a disease, and it's a very, very hard to come back from. It's possible, but you just didn't give it enough time. I'm not even saying that, first time, maybe second time, third time. So we lost our only son, and he was the light of so many people's lives, so many people have pulled us since then that he helped them through their recovery. They'd walk into a party or an event with him, and they'd feel like he was they were walking in with with a celebrity, and he was the funniest guy in the room. So all of this and more, the day he died, our daughter and Jerry and I vowed to be secret. No more. Nobody knew this was going on, not even our best friends, because it's a painful and powerful disease, and you have hope that it's going to get better, and Tyler accomplished everything you've ever set his mind to. And we had hope it wouldn't get to this point, or get to a point where anybody would have to know. So we vowed to make sure and be honest about what happened and fight this fight with all we have. So that's what brings us to today.
Dina Simon 07:29
And you're fighting and fighting. So you started. So let's start there. Let's talk about the nonprofit that you are. You co founded. So let's, let's start right there. Okay,
Michele Hein 07:39
in February of 22 I had a rally on the front lawn of the state capitol fentanyl awareness route. Then it drew several people. We had, like, hundreds of people. We had legislators speaking. There are several bills at the legislature that had been on the docket year after year. So I jumped on board and thought, let's see what I can do to help. It didn't pass those the bills didn't pass that year. So the following year, I used to work for a printer, so they print everything for me for free. And so they jumped on board and said, let us know what you need. So we printed up brochures and put them in every senator and House of Representatives mailboxes, and then had a rally and a faces of fentanyl display in the north corridor. So the House of Representatives, every day they were there, they had to walk by these faces and stories and learn about why of the death of by fentanyl. And the rally we had in the rotunda talked to increasing the penalties for fentanyl distribution and possession to at least equal that of heroin. Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, and it was prosecuted at a lesser amount. So that was the one thing. The other thing was to get Narcan in schools. Another organization and other legislators had been championing this for years. We tried to help them get it through by saying every school needs a couple doses of Narcan. Fortunately, it got passed last year as well, so every public and charter school have doses of Narcan on site at all times. Then February, I got a call from a prosecutor, Paul Ostro out of Anoka County, and he said, I saw you in the Star Tribune, and I got you so I called them and got your name. And I'm going to retire in December, and I want to fight the Fentanyl crisis, and I see you're doing that too, so let you want to get together and have lunch. So we met with him and a consultant that he had hired to actually try to put this together as well. And we haven't looked back. We agreed then and there. My husband met with them. We pulled together a an incredible board. Or directors, public servants, family members who have lost loved ones, community activists, obviously, law enforcement and we are here and dedicated to safeguarding the futures of Minnesota families and making the Minnesota fentanyl free might take 10 years, and it might take less if other drugs, which are already on the scene and that are deadlier than fentanyl, but that's what our goal is, because it can be hidden in any straight drug. And so we are raising awareness and educating and making law changes at the legislature, all in an effort to save lives. Very powerful,
Dina Simon 10:41
yeah, yeah, yeah,
Michele Hein 10:42
the deputy Drug Enforcement Administration administrator, Ann wilgren, you'll see. You've probably already seen her on TV and in the news, but she said in 2022 that fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered, and we just have to what we have to do is we need to get families and parents would think that they feel bad for us who have lost a child to understand that it very well could happen to their family, even though they say it won't happen to my child and my family? Sure? Yeah, yeah, Bob, I urge them to think again, because there are hundreds of 1000s of stories like mine that it happens to people like us, and it's being hidden in every single illicit street job today. It used just being heroin, and it used to, then it went to methamphetamine. It's It's in everything. It's even being found in marijuana well.
Dina Simon 11:51
And as you said, so it has to just this. And like so many other topics, we just have to be talking about it. We have to raise the awareness.
Michele Hein 12:00
And it seems so simple, doesn't it? Dina, just talk about it. Talk to your friends, talk to your children, just so they have it in the back of their mind, right, right?
John Simon Sr. 12:10
I believe the two biggest issues we face are the opioid crisis and mental health. Those two issues have affected so many people, so many families, and we're not doing enough about it.
Michele Hein 12:23
I have to say we're doing more than when I can't say it, but we do have a lot more work to do. We need to destigmatize the issues around mental health and substance use disorder. You know, a campaign of ours might be to get out there and say, just, almost like just stop and think before you take that pill or but that's going to work. That's going to work going to the kids who may not have opiate use disorder right now, or recreational drug use that might work for them, but for those people who have the disease of substance use disorder, it's very, very hard to get them to think, don't use now pyler, he did not go out to buy a pill with fentanyl in it, but did he know it could potentially be in there? Yes. So that's again, where the disease is so strong that it just overtakes the fact that he potentially could die.
John Simon Sr. 13:25
The one thing that struck me as I was doing a little bit of research, and I went to the CDC website to take a look, and it's four little words, one pill can kill. And boy, that to me, those four words meant more than anything that I read on that entire website. Yeah,
Michele Hein 13:44
you hear stories of a kid that went to a party and there was a kid passing her own pills, and no, I'll pass then everybody takes one, and they're all they seem to be having a good time and having fun. And the guy comes back says, Hey, we're gonna take bill. He's like, Oh, you guys seem to be having a lot of fun, sure. What will it hurt in his pill contains at least two milligrams of fentanyl, and he dies? I mean, that's those are the heartbreaking, not that they're not all heartbreaking, but those stories are absolutely preventable, if we just have in the back of their head that that can happen. Yes,
Dina Simon 14:21
well, and Michelle, I think, I think I had shared with you, and John knows about it, but when Mandy, you know, when you we have kids off of college, right? So Mandy was at college, and she had some major back issues going on, and when she we told her to go to the hospital, and when she left the hospital, they sent her home with extremely potent drugs, and when we heard about it, we're like, No, you cannot take that like we have got to get you back with your regular doctor on Monday. We got to figure something out, because once you start, you know that that's where these things happen. And we were just so angry, because even that she is 20 years old. She's a college kid, and they prescribed it for her right, and she leaves the hospital and and as a parent, we don't have a whole lot of rights when your kid is 20. Yet, I still contacted the doctors to say you have got to get her off this med. And she, I think, ended up taking one or two because she was in so much pain, like so one day, two days, and then she was so afraid, because we were so afraid. But she could have, she could they could have sent her home with it. She could have, you know, taken the entire bottle throughout the couple weeks that they wanted her to take it, and we could have not known anything about it. And that's how these things happen. And
Michele Hein 15:38
she may have been okay, but we don't know if the opiate receptors in her brain would have loved it and changed her and
John Simon Sr. 15:50
to show you how the drugs worked, in August of 2020, I had triple bypass surgery, and when I left the hospital, they gave me a prescription that my wife went and filled it was 56 hydrocodone pills in one prescription. 56 I we filled it. I never took one of them, because you become afraid, and I didn't have that much pain to me anyhow, that I didn't want to take it because I knew what the possibilities were. Whenever you start, somebody sits there and say, how do you make a decision? He is owing 56 of them at one time. Well, I
Michele Hein 16:28
find that interesting in 2020 because there's been a real crackdown on how many pills that doctors can prescribe now of opiates, because they the Big Pharma started the opioid crisis in the 90s. Wow, I can't believe they sent you over 56
Dina Simon 16:44
Yeah, we when Mandy was home just recently, we showed up at CVS and a big bag of all unused pills and that we've had and all prescribed, right, and just threw through them in their bin.
Michele Hein 16:58
And a note for the public as well is that most, I'm going to say, all police departments have a pill take back day or days throughout the year. And some departments also have their receptacles there year round that you can drop any unused prescriptions. Don't ever leave those in your cabinets. Ever, you never know who's going to go in there and take them. Right, right. It does happen. And then, on the other hand, John, you're talking about the the prescription you got, Tyler in September of 2019 broke his tibia and fibia in a skateboarding accident, and when he left the hospital, they gave him four pill, and it wasn't enough. He was in so much pain. And I think that he, well, I know he walked up the streets to to relieve his pain.
Dina Simon 17:45
Well, Michelle, the work that you're doing, so this is what is consuming your professional life, right? So this is and so exciting, because we've known each other for a long time, and just the amazing connections that you have also like what you talked about. So the printing is free. You have a gala coming up, and yes, and I've seen just some of the amazing sponsors, and just you have so many amazing connections with people that want to support, not only you and Tyler's memory, but just continue to raise awareness. And anything that you are a part of is something that they know is going to be an amazing event and opportunity. So share just a second about the gala, and then just kind of what's next for you guys and what you're working on from the organization, the nonprofit. So
Michele Hein 18:31
we're holding our first or I should, I'm going to say our inaugural Gala. I'm not certain there's going to be a first, second, third, fourth, but what I Sure, yeah, we're inaugural gala at southview Country Club on Friday, May 7. It's from six to nine. We'll have a social hour and silent auction with some great silent auction items. We've already received signed memorabilia from the twins of the Vikings in the wild. A chef has offered a six course meal for six people in his home or yours. We just have some really fun, fun items are me, and we have a great lineup for our program. It'll be an hour long right after dinner, and a plated, seated dinner, by the way, and we have confirmed Sheriff DeWanna Witt from Hennepin County will be speaking. Congresswoman Angie Craig will be speaking as well. She has been a wonderful supporter of Jerry and I since day one. Oh, and just to note, we're not in her district. We can't vote for her. Cannot do anything for her, right? But she feels very strongly about this, and not only supports us at the local level, but does what she can at the at the national level, also, we are putting together a panel of four young adults in recovery that we're going to have a panel with a 1520, minute question and answer from the audience so they can hear that you can recover from fentanyl. It's never an easy road, but these young people are. We'll be able to share how it is possible, and hopefully that'll give somebody hope. And everything that we're doing, it's to build a legacy around Tyler's life. But it really is about everybody that's lost someone you know, the moms get all the attention when they when a child passes, the dads get some, the grandmas and grandpas barely any. The siblings sometimes are brought up, but it's something that everybody needs to know and understand so they can save a loved one or an acquaintance or anybody else in life. There are so many communities that are being hit hard. Every community is being hit, but there are communities that are being hit harder, and we do work with those communities as well, because it's really important. You know, I had somebody comment on a Facebook post one time or a LinkedIn I don't remember, where were all you white women when the map phase was going on in downtown many I can't even remember what he said, but I read it and I just, I lost my breath. I wish I would have known, right, right? I would have been doing something by now. I didn't know about fentanyl until seven months before Tyler died, right? Right? I don't want other people to know that. So I digress. I went from a beautiful, fun filled, hope filled evening of the college that I have to tell you, it's that important.
Dina Simon 21:29
Yes, it is. And you, you, I'm sure, have learned, I mean, you're, you know, the haters are going to hate, right, like you, so you've got to be very careful as to how you let those types of feedback, you know, affect you and
Michele Hein 21:44
and I also, we try to reply. We have a few of us specifically that reply to all posts. I sent a note right away and said, everybody, give it 24 hours. Won't let me react. Yes, yes. I ended up replying and saying exactly that. I wish I would have known, and I wish I would have been there to help, and I would have been, but that's just not the way
Dina Simon 22:07
it worked. No, and it can't be all on. Michelle Hein,
Michele Hein 22:10
and I am doing something now. So like, Yes, you are with what are you doing? Right? Yes, exactly.
John Simon Sr. 22:16
So Michelle, you were tired in February of 2022, and is Jerry still working?
Michele Hein 22:23
Yeah, he's going to retire in March of 25 but one more,
Dina Simon 22:27
yeah, what's his next act? What's he going to do?
Michele Hein 22:30
We're not sure. He's got a lot of irons in the fire. He has. He started a business 27 years ago, and I can't, and it's a very successful company now, and I can't see him not doing something, and neither can he somebody's got some amazing national consulting opportunities he could take on. He's also talked about opening a bait shop, or even working at a bait shop. So the sky's the limit.
Dina Simon 22:55
That's great. And Michelle, you have a daughter we do, and I think two grandchildren
Michele Hein 23:01
we do, and they're the wealth of our lives, and this is another reason we do this work. I never want them to even know that this thing existed. We just
Dina Simon 23:10
want it to be gone, right? And do they live close to you? They live in
Michele Hein 23:14
San Francisco, but they are moving home in July. Yay. Yeah. I have so much to be thankful for, and that's what we try to remember we have since day one. Some days are harder. Some days you get gut punched, but if you can wake up then say a quick prayer and Promise yourself that you will find joy in every day. You can do it. If I can do it, you can do it absolutely. And we welcome anyone to find us online. We're on every social media platform out there, even if they just need support. We have resources we can direct them to. We're very well connected to everything they need to be able to get through, maybe a family substance use issue or a mental health issue, don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Dina Simon 24:11
Yeah, well, and we'll make sure that we share all of the links so that people know how to get in touch with you and help promote the gala. Are there still tickets to the gala. There are,
Michele Hein 24:21
yes, yeah, awesome. And that can all be found on our website as well. And we'll be sending invoice invitations. Invoices. Was that invitations out in a couple of weeks.
Dina Simon 24:33
I used to be a client, so there you go, right? I'm gonna send you a good one.
John Simon Sr. 24:38
So for those listening, you can't see what Dina and I just saw the minute Michelle started talking about the two grandchildren, she got closer to the camera, and her face just went out. You can't see that on a podcast, but we saw they,
Michele Hein 24:52
they're incredible. I can't you know they say there's nothing like grandchildren, then you don't understand it until. Your grand grammar? Grammar? Yeah, you cannot. What are they gonna call you? Everybody's like, Oh, what are you gonna have the kids call you? And I was like, what, grandma? But I don't know. And one day I got a call from my daughter. She said, Mom, we're teaching Jovi Spanish, and she is a went to a Spanish Immersion day kit, and she said she's saying BIA media. And so what's that? Does that? Does that mean grandma and in Spanish? And I said, No, that's abuela. And Joby came into the picture, and she said, and pointed at me, and I told me, BIA. So BIA and I love being. I love it well.
John Simon Sr. 25:41
And generally, the first grandchild, abramowski grandparents, and then all the other ones pick up after that, see, and
Dina Simon 25:47
I had no clue. I had no clue. Well, I'm glad they're moving back to you. Yeah, me too. They'll
Michele Hein 25:53
be living out west a little bit. So, yeah, yeah, United
Dina Simon 25:56
Minnesota, right, right, right, right.
Michele Hein 26:00
I guess what? 50 minutes from where I live,
Dina Simon 26:03
there you go. Everything's 50 minutes. Yes, so Michelle, we have we've known each other for a long time. I thank you for everything that you did to help us with Simon says give we certainly you did a lot of printing and promo stuff for us, but you also volunteered. You were part of our birthday celebrations team, and you were there for me a lot as well, right when we were trying to raise funds and connecting me with people. So also love that you are now having your own nonprofit, and you know, anything I can do to support you, I'll be there for you. I will be out of the country on the 17th of May, so I won't be able to come to the gala, but boys to Dina, right? But I'm so excited that you're doing that and just again everything that it takes the momentum right, and the awareness and continuing to get the story out there. And what a great way to do that well.
Michele Hein 26:51
And I still appreciate you having me on the podcast. We need to get this out through every means available, but it's not always. It's never the funnest thing to talk about, but it has to be talked about. We have to make sure families and parents know and young adults in particular, because opioid overdoses are the leading cause of death in people 18 to 45 and 75 to 80% of those had a lethal dose of fentanyl. Okay, so you don't actually take a Percocet or an Adderall pill and more. Adderall is a bad example, Percocet or an oxy pill and lace it with fentanyl. These pills are being the precursor chemicals are coming from China. 97% of the precursor chemicals come from China. Go through Mexico, they press the pills or make the powder and get them into the United States. Last year, it was seven out of 10 seized pills contained fentanyl. They just came out with a new stat. Have to update my brochures again, eight out of 10 pressed pills contain unleatheable dose of fentanyl. It's horrifying. And you've seen the seizures. You saw the Dakota Cowie seizure last week or the week before? Yeah, hundreds of 1000s of pills being seized. Thankfully,
Dina Simon 28:11
right? Yes, thankfully, thankfully, yes. Well, we want you to keep spreading the word, that's for sure. And
Michele Hein 28:19
thank you guys too. Well. Again, I appreciate you guys reaching out.
John Simon Sr. 28:23
I wanted to thank you for sharing with me your story and what you're doing for everyone else. And I know, I know your thoughts are, if you save one person, yeah, that's what it's all about, one at a time.
Michele Hein 28:37
Yes, it is. That's exactly what we all what we all say every day, why are we doing this? Because we're going to save lives. Absolutely,
Dina Simon 28:44
yes, yes. And as you said, we've talked about this is it's so hard to know. You know, it takes hearing this message over and over and finding information, and so it's hard to gage, you know, how many people we can save with getting the message out there, but just knowing that that that conversation is out there and will help somebody and and resources, people like you said, resources here. Where do you turn some so often, that's the question. I just don't even know where to go to get the help. And so for the resources that you have available and the connectivity,
Michele Hein 29:19
right? And if you, if there's people out there that like stats, go on to any CDC, MDH, MHS, or even your public county health websites, and you'll find all the statistics you need to know on from local all the way up to national. And that will that'll open your eyes as well. They've got charts, they've got stats, and they're all current.
John Simon Sr. 29:46
I know it opened my whenever I went to the CDC, yeah,
Dina Simon 29:49
yeah, yeah. Well, we appreciate it, because we do have, we have a lot of young people in our families, and it's a conversation that, as you said, it's hard to have. Of but it's one that needs to be had so that it doesn't happen to to our families, right? It's all about awareness.
Michele Hein 30:06
These these docs are definitely preventable, yeah?
Dina Simon 30:11
Well, Michelle, we thank you so much for being on the podcast and having this important conversation.
Michele Hein 30:16
Thanks, Dina, thanks, John, thank you.
Dina Simon 30:20
I would like to thank Michelle Hein for a conversation that is one, you know, certainly difficult to have, but we all need to be having these conversations and build awareness. So I thank her so much for her willingness to do that today and sharing her her story, Tyler's story and the great work that they are doing. We will make sure that you know how to get in touch with her in the show notes. But anybody that wants to rally with her and get involved, I know that she would love that support. As always, I would like to thank my father in law, John Simon, for CO hosting with me and until we talk again. You