Austin Mathew describes his past addiction experience during Thursday night's opioid epidemic forum at Grace Community Church. Next to him is his father Phil and Dr. Matthew Delp, Seneca Valley's Intermediate High School Principal.

CRANBERRY TWP — The opioid epidemic is affecting people in every community in Butler County and attendees of a forum hosted by the county commissioners Thursday night got to see living proof.

The two-hour program held at Grace Community Church was the fifth such forum in recent months to educate the public about the problems the community is facing and what public officials, police and other organizations are doing about it.

Austin Mathews, 21, shared his firsthand experience with addiction.

Mathews is a Cranberry Township resident who graduated from Seneca Valley High School and Thursday said he was one day away from having been drug-free for eight months.

He said he started drinking and smoking marijuana when he was in ninth grade and was using harder drugs daily by the time he was in 11th grade. He also dealt drugs during and after high school.

After multiple arrests and four different trips to rehab, he was able to get clean. One of the things that helped him, he said, was removing himself from the people, places and things that he was around when he was using drugs.

For the past five months, he has been telling his story to various groups like he did Thursday, which he said his sponsor encouraged him to do to spread his message and also to help keep him focused on staying off drugs.

“Life does go on and there are chances. I messed up like five times. If your kid doesn’t get it the first time, don’t give up. There are still chances. Without that tough love, especially from my dad here, I wouldn’t be the man who I am today,” he told the crowd.

A full story appears in Friday's Butler Eagle.