Lisa Poggi

I always wanted to have children. Ever since I can remember. It took my husband and I many years and many trials before the birth of our son who is now twenty-one years old. When our children are born, we attach hopes and dreams along with expectations of how their lives will look. And for that matter, how our lives as parents will look. Making life-long friends, playing organized sports, succeeding in school, attending college, getting the perfect job to support themselves, and us as...

I just got home from downtown Los Angeles, where I spent the day with my brother. The traffic-filled ride home took nearly an hour and forty minutes, and I spent most of that time crying. Downtown Los Angeles triggers me. I see mentally ill, drug-addicted people sleeping on sidewalks, in doorways, and doing drugs, while regular people walk past or around them. This isn’t even Skid Row. I have been to Skid Row looking for my son. It was a traumatic experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone. My son...

The Great American Recovery Initiative Misses the Mark The first batch of funding released under the Great American Recovery Initiative has been framed as a bold shift in America’s response to substance use disorder. At Prevention Day, the largest government sponsored gathering dedicated to advancing substance use prevention and hosted by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a $100 million investment intended to correct what he described...