Hello, and thank you for being here. My name is Nancy Bannon, I’m a filmmaker and theater artist dedicated to telling dynamic stories across a range of mediums. My work explores themes of intimacy and resilience and is driven by a deep commitment to create dialogue and foster empathy.

I'm returning to my rust-belt hometown of Youngstown, Ohio to follow the caregivers of Mahoning County Felony Drug Court for a year. This film aims to capture the herculean efforts of the treatment team as they shepherd participants struggling with substance-use-disorder into long term recovery. This project is a composition of not only my artistry but my roots.

What's the context?

With almost fifty years of sky-high unemployment after the economic collapse of the steel industry, the Youngstown area has suffered from epidemic level substance use disorder issues for four generations. But there's an extraordinary game changer quietly taking place in Youngstown.

The Mahoning County Felony Drug Court is saving lives. 

What is a Drug Court?

Drug court is an alternative to incarceration. It's a comprehensive intervention program designed to help non-violent offenders break away from the substance use that led them to the court system in the first place.

This system aims for holistic transformation - physical, mental, social, and emotional - to help offenders better understand themselves and their trauma, recover from substance use disorder.

None of these are easy tasks.

The risk of relapse is high in early recovery. Violence, human trafficking, poverty, and serious mental health issues are intertwined with drug trade and culture so participants are often highly traumatized.

Every day carries life or death stakes for this team, and even though Mahoning Drug Court has one of the highest success rates in the nation, tragedy is not uncommon.

The court provides intensive supported pathways to getting sober, getting families, jobs, and lives back, and dismissing or expunging criminal records.

Studies have shown drug courts reduce crime, save taxpayers money, ensure compliance, and restore families.

This topic is moving to us, and the success rate here deserves to be shouted rom the rooftops, but the really impressive piece, the drama, lies in the people and their stories. Our film aims to be:

The experiences of the judge, parole officer, drug court coordinator and her team are a kind of extreme case of what many people can relate to: how to process success and failure (and ambiguous outcomes) in our work; how to balance emotional connectivity and some emotional distance we may need to make sure we can serve the next client; how we can be dedicated to our work without it consuming us. This is real human stuff. I’m honored to tell this story.

Four main subjects make up the heads of the court's treatment team:

While we have four main subjects to serve as our story vehicles, the community portrait would not be complete without the intersection of law enforcement and the awe-inspiring EMTs who, multiple times a shift, save the lives of those who’ve overdosed. The people in the film are the conduits for the audience to experience the issue in an immersive, human-focused way. We want to put faces on all these service positions. We want the sound of police and ambulance sirens ringing out in the middle of the night while we’re cozily tucked in bed, to land differently.

What's the goal of the film?

1. To destigmatize help-seeking and ultimately save lives
2. To spotlight these unsung heroes
3. To create community
4. To inspire other communities to implement specialty dockets

How is this film different?

If You Are Breathing isn't just another look at the opioid crisis in our country. This film looks at the recovery community's caregivers and their silent service. This is about one community's solution.

Mahoning County Drug Court’s success is exactly why this story deserves to be told. Increasing awareness and education is how storytelling can spread empathy among audiences. We need that right now more than ever. The takeaway from the film, like the court itself, is hope.

Drug court in Youngstown is working.

Withing the striving itself, lies hope. Watching people uplift themselves and their community can bring deep joy. Through this process, we've experienced a profound surge of optimism and faith in the goodness of people.

As I heard peer counselor Rose tell her struggling clients,

"If you are breathing, there is hope."

We need your help to continue production for Phase II of filming and get us through the summer. The particular stories we are following are situations where success can suddenly turn into tragic failure, thus the continuation of filming is extremely important. Any support you can give is monumental to our efforts.

BUDGET

We need funds to support our crew, equipment, travel, and food.

We are looking for a minimum of $20,000 to complete Phase II of filming. You can find our further breakdown section under our wishlist tab.

STAY TUNED!

By becoming a backer you can join opt-in to receive updates via Seed & Spark, or feel free to follow our Instagram @ifyouarebreathing for updates and information!

YOUR SUPPORT



By supporting our project you are not only supporting this documentary but the heroic caregivers of Youngstown, Ohio as we are committed to creating a community, encouraging help-seeking, and spotlighting these unsung heroes. Drug courts and the people that make them are life-changing resources that are vital in combating the opioid epidemic -- we want to celebrate all that they do.

Most sincerely,

Nancy Bannon and the If You Are Breathing team