For three generations over more than 40 years, men and women in my family have served the people of Multnomah County as Corrections Professionals. I am the last in my family to do so and I am keenly aware of the way we are impacted by what we see and hear behind the doors of a County Jail. The corrections profession has changed me, for sure. If I were to put my finger on the single thing about my job that leaves me the most affected, it would have to be witnessing young people who possess many things I find valuable, throwing away their futures, their health, their looks, their intelligence, and freedom.

With alarming frequency over the last five years, I have witnessed methamphetamine rob people, young and old, of these precious possessions. I can see it in the faces and hear it in the words of so many of the men and women, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters who pass through our doors. As methamphetamine weaves its insidious path into our communities, homes and families, I know I must not stand by and watch helplessly.

With Faces of Meth©, I am arming the young people of Oregon with the weapon of knowledge in the battle against methamphetamine. Thousands of young Oregonians and people all over the world are offered a glimpse of what so deeply affects me; the disturbing transformations of people, once so very alive and full of promise, into hopeless beings, filling our jails and stealing our quality of life.