I have a son who is addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs. He turned his life upside down and our lives have been as well for the past five years.

We were introduced to a program called PAL (Parents of Addicted Loved Ones). PAL is a free program that helps the parents of addicted men, women and kids. The program helps to deal with all the drama and chaos that addiction puts the whole family through. This has helped my wife and I tremendously.

Now, I can't be the only member of the IBEW to be dealing with this problem. So I want to make sure this information is available to all of our brothers and sisters. PAL is available nationwide, either in-person or online. You can find out more at palgroup.org.

If you're struggling to help a loved one through addiction, please get some help.

Dan Rodarte, Local 640 member
Phoenix, Ariz.