Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Posey.
Hi Kathy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2017 I lost my son, Josh, to a drug overdose at the age of 23. It was a devastating and unexpected loss that no family should ever have to experience. He went from being a USA Club and a high school swimmer that was high spirited, smart and fun to be around to self medicating due to depression and anxiety. As a family, we were completely blindsided and didn’t know where to turn or how to help him, although we tried hard to understand his substance use disorder. A few years after he passed I became a facilitator of a national group called GRASP (Grief Recovery After Substance Passing) in The Woodlands. There, I met 3 other moms that lost a son to overdose and we all felt a need to bring more awareness in our community about the drug epidemic, and the help that was available for those struggling and their families since we were unaware of these things. We thought, if we could save one family from going through the struggles and loss that we had then we will have found purpose in our personal pain. We founded our 501(c)(3) nonprofit – Montgomery County Overdose Prevention Endeavor (M-COPE) with that in mind. Our founders are Sarah Hall, who lost her son Ethan, Kim Robbins, who lost her son Stephen, and Sherry Barton (no longer active) who lost her son Chance. In addition to our active founders, we’ve added Paige Butler as an additional consultant/ board member.
We are guided by our 4 pillars of Awareness, Education, Prevention and Remembrance in all that we do. We started by holding a free community awareness day event in August 2021 with speakers, Narcan training, resources and The Texas Memorial Walkway™. From there we’ve grown by partnering with professionals from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Scientists, Drug Intelligence Officers from Houston HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) and other grieving families to go into middle, high school and community colleges to speak to students about the dangers of illicit drugs and addiction. Additionally, we speak at community and parent organizations, Student Service Leagues (NCR, Young Men’s Service League, etc.) and other neighborhood groups.
We hold Narcan training and provide free Narcan kits to those in attendance and give out Deterra Pouches that are used for safe medicine disposal to eliminate diversion of prescription and OTC medicines.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge we face is getting parents to attend school and community awareness events. Many people have the mindset of “not my child,” which is a dangerous misconception. Because of stigma, families often believe substance use could never affect them—but we’re trying to help them understand that Substance Abuse and Substance Use Disorder does not discriminate.
Each of us had what most would consider a “good family.” My husband and I have been married for 35 years. My husband was a military pilot and later retired from United Airlines. I worked part-time but was mostly a stay-at-home mom—active in our boys’ schools, their sports teams, and all their activities. We ate dinner together as a family and went to church regularly—yet it still happened to us. I never saw it coming, because I believed that “this doesn’t happen to families like mine.
Another major struggle is getting access to more schools. We’re not sure if the hesitation comes from administration or parent pushback, but there’s a strong reluctance to admit that drugs exist in our communities—when in fact, they do and our kids have to be armed with accurate and current information.
The encouraging part is that whenever we’re invited to present, the response is overwhelmingly positive. Most people who attend share that they’ve been touched by substance use in some way and have their own story to tell.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Within M-COPE, I coordinate all of our speaking engagements, Narcan trainings, and The Texas Memorial Walkway™️ events. Together with our founder, Sarah Hall, I help design the memorial signs and, with the support of our volunteers, set up the walkway at various events. Families of the angels submit photos and information through our website, and we add their loved ones to the walkway free of charge—something made possible thanks to our generous 2025 sponsors, Positive Recovery Centers and Kingwood Pines Behavioral Hospital.
The Texas Memorial Walkway™️ is an impactful traveling exhibit of pictures and bios of people that have been lost in Texas to drugs and/or alcohol. Currently, the ages range from 14 to 64 years old. We started with 66 pictures at our first awareness event and now have 325. The purpose of the walkway is two-fold. The first is to help fight the stigma by showing these beautiful faces and telling their story. When we’re at schools, we ask the students to read the stories because we guarantee that they will see themselves in at least one person. Additionally, we want people to remember them for who they were in life and not only how they passed away. They all had families that loved them, they were smart, they loved sports and music, went to church etc. but unfortunately passed from an awful disease that can affect anyone.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Compassion for others and the passion to make a difference. There’s always a lot of guilt when you lose someone to a SUD; I’m always second guessing my actions with Josh; wondering what else I could have done or what I could have done differently. I think by doing this work it helps me make a difference and educate people in a way I wasn’t when I was dealing with Josh’s struggles. In a nutshell, I, along with the other founders, are trying to educate people and let families that are currently struggling know that they are not alone and that they can talk about it.
When I first found out about Josh’s substance use I self isolated and didn’t talk about it with people…even my friends and family. However, I finally realized that the silence was harder and that for me, there was freedom in sharing. People get to that point at different times in their journey and some never do, but for me it was my saving grace.
Pricing:
- Narcan training and Narcan is free
- Presentations are free
- Adding a loved one to The Texas Memorial Walkway is free
- As a nonprofit we do take donations as we are a completely volunteer organization
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mcope.org
- Instagram: mcopetx
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/groups/mocope
