Class Project
When Linda Franiewski joined the 2008 Class of Leadership Butler County, both she and her fellow students got an education.
For Franiewski, “well, to me it was like a finishing school on leadership where you learned so much about Butler County.”
Her colleagues learned about the county, too, through the class project, and it may have shocked them.
Franiewski said her class worked on a large project to get the parents and students of Karns City Elementary School in Chicora to take the Reality Tour, a drug education tour recommended for grade-school children.
The tour included visits to the Butler County Jail and simulations of addiction, including a hospital overdose scene and a funeral.
“The kids get an eyeful,” Franiewski said.
“It was what the group selected. I believe not only the children but the parents and the leadership members learned. I'm exposed to it every day, but a lot were flabbergasted,” said Franiewski, who is executive director of the Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Addiction Center.
For example she said, few realized that heroin use in the county is as high as it is.
Today, she said, it is the drug of choice ahead of alcohol. It's cheap and easy to get, and as a result, the number of overdose deaths is chilling.
“In fact in January, in people coming off the street for assessment, 44 out of 86 listed heroin as their drug of choice. Twenty-seven said alcohol,” said Franiewski.
Users generally range in age from 18 to the early 20s.
“There's work to be done to keep people alive and plug into treatment. There are not enough resources to provide treatment,” she said.
Franiewski said she didn't anticipate all of the advantages of participating in Leadership Butler County.
“I gained two board members. I connected with so many people. It was very worthwhile,” she said.
“It is a very successful program in developing leaders in Butler County. There were many up and coming, and they are now involved in many boards of non-profits.
“It kind of plugs you in somewhere in the community. I think it really encourages community involvement,” she said.
Her own community involvement includes serving as a board member of the criminal justice advisory board of the Butler County Prison and as a member of the Women United group of the United Way of Butler County.
Women United, she said, provides services to women including mentoring.
The leadership class was especially good for her, she said because she was a newcomer then, moving to the county from Pittsburgh in 2005.
“I really wanted to understand the dynamics of the county I was living in,” said Franiewski.
Franiewski said she's sent three of her employees to the class since she was enrolled.“I really recommend the program. Just to think that every year they put out 24, 25 people and how much difference they make in the Butler County community. It's a very good program for the future,” she said.Although she's now a certified addictions counselor, Franiewski didn't start out to head a drug treatment center.She earned a bachelor's in finance at Slippery Rock University and a master's in business administration in finance at the University of Pittsburgh.She worked at National City Bank in Pittsburgh in the commercial credit area when the opportunity to change fields opened up.“I had been on the board at the Gaiser Center for six years, and they were looking for someone with financial skills,” said Franiewski.The center offered her the job and she accepted.“I enjoyed banking but I get to totally make a difference directly and on a daily basis,” she said of her job now.“I look at life as fun. I usually enjoy what I am doing,” she said.Franiewski said for the future, “We're continuing to meet the needs of the community. We're tuning into where things are going with affordable health care.”
<B>Age: </B>54<B>Address: </B>West Sunbury<B>Family:</B> Husband, Stan; two sons, Zak, 21, and Josh, 19<B>Employment: </B>Executive director of the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Addiction Center, 165 Old Plank Road; outpatient center at 315 Liberty St.<B>What company does: </B>Provides drug and alcohol treatment and services to addicted individuals and support to families; provides drug and alcohol education at the Butler County Prison and the Butler County Adult Probation Office<B>Employees: </B>31<B>LEADERSHIP IS:</B>“Leadership is the ability to motivate others to act toward a common goal and, more importantly, to coach and develop others to achieve their fullest potential. I believe good leaders roll up their sleeves and get in there. Good leaders are visible.”<B>INSPIRATION:</B>“I come up with Ellen O’Brien Gaiser, the director of the Gaiser Center for many years. She was my predecessor.“She was a courageous and compassionate person. She was kind of a pioneer in the field of drug and alcohol.“She was very compassionate, very strong in her convictions. She was a very strong advocate for the rights of recovering individuals.“She passed away in 1994. She touched many lives in Butler County. Those are some hard shoes to fill.”
