work for the city of philadelphia and a force of change right there in the streets. >> lives on the line. >> we all go through the struggles. don't worry about all you need to do is get here and then they'll take care of everything. >> two moments in time. >> you got to have faith win yourself. you go the take the first step. >> this played out within one minute of us hitting kensington avenue. >> i've seen nurses, teachers, correction officers, i've seen them lost in this neighborhood. and actually die in this unable. >> philadelphia not just about neighborhoods. it's also about territories. >> you not going go up strawberry mansion and get heroin. you might go there and get crack. you might go to 17th and jefferson to get pills. >> but you go to kensington to get heroin and alike. >> folks come here from all ov over. bucks county, harrisburg, allentown, pottstown. >> boston. >> and they get stuck. >> you know, when you get mice on the tracks, they come down here and get stuck. can't get out. ♪ >> how long have you been out here? >> a year and a half. >> year and a half. you never thought you was going to be out here a year and half. you just came out to get hi, high one day, that's what happened. people get lost out here. >> rick ford got lost. >> can we met 20 years ago on the streets,. >> i would have robbed you. >> ramon cruz got lost. >> a couple years ago i was running right through these streets. everybody know me around here. >> both on the streets, both jailed. both now talking the talk of recovery because they've walk the walk of addiction. >> i'm one of those people, too. >> it's not book stories. it's real life stories. >> do you think that god led you through the valley of darkness. >> of course. >> to be able to go through this. >> of course. >> how do you break people free from the shadows? >> from the den of what's known as hell under the el. >> i've seen say this quite often it takes village to raise child. what if the village is sick? >> what about if the village is sick? >> ♪ >> you tryining to into treatme, detox? >> detox, yes. >> okay. >> win the past year, the city of philadelphia has expanded the availability of narcan. it has expand the medicated treatment lots recovery houses, residential treatment facilities. but the most important weapon in its war against the opioid epidemic -- >> we can't think, right, if we continue to use. >> getting out from behind the desk and taking it to the streets. >> derek and company are just, you know, always going to be very very important. in fact, um, you might say in some ways they'll be most important. >> sometimes folks need to be confronted with somebody who been there. how therapeutic is that when i say, hey, i was homeless living in the street. hey, i went to jail. i slept in every shell. who is going to believe you -- evidence. >> evidence, ford has got it in spades. >> i got stabbed once, twice. >> scars from stabbings, a gunshot wound wisdom. >> sometimes the bear get you and sometimes you get the bear. >> gleaned from years of bad choices. beginning in the sixth grade. >> i smoked a cigarette with some guys because i wanted to fit in. listen to this progression. seventh grade pills. eighth grade cocaine. ninth grade alcohol. tenth grade everything. >> progression, how he got here. ford and cruz have never seen it this bad then lay the glam squarely at the feet of prescription opioids that hook you. drug dealers chomping at the bit to lure you in, leave you twis twisting in the wind. >> then they said you know what the anecdote for that is a ten-dollar bag of heroin. >> it's a lot cheaper. >> here we are. here we are. i can't pay $80 for oxycodone hood pill. >> this is your hood. >> born and raised i love it here. >> cruz and ford pound these streets every day battling addiction with compassion. >> don't cry. it's fine. it's fine. listen, we all struggling. >> education. treatment. >> you on the roadway. >> they're working for the city as its front line warriors but for these two, this is their calling. >> god saved me from the hards of addiction sometimes you got to understand what your assignment is. sometimes you really got to understand what your assignment is. ♪ >> dead from an overdose leaving this man up all night struggling with his stark reality. >> addicted to heroin. >> just like his brother but now ready for help with cruz pointing the way. >> hang in there. all right. hang in there. >> go to the -- go tomorrow morning. >> all right? >> we've been through so much and god was just preparing us to what we do now. >> coaxing,. down the street.artial program- >> prodding. >> your responsibility now, rick, i'm going to call lady -- now. >> i still make 12 steps for almost 27 years. because i know what i suffer from. i ain't drug proof. by a long shot. >> that's right. not just drug proof. rick ford, ramon cruz they both say recovery is a live long process. if you or someone you know relapses don't give up on yourself or them. the face of addiction could be anybody anywhere. would you know it in someone you see every day? a local family says they couldn't until a neighbor stepped in to help. their story is next. ♪ michael: i'm thankful that i'm alive and have a second chance. james: i'm thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. darlene: i'm thankful to be able to help people in crisis. vanessa: i'm thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. christie: new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. but if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, i want you to know: we are here for you. this holiday season, choose help. call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov. this holiday season get a deal that will save you money for the next two years guaranteed. get the 100% fiber optic network with the fastest internet available. plus up to 200 channels, plus phone, plus showtime for two years, plus multi-room dvr service for two years, plus a 2-year price guarantee. all for just $79.99 per month online, with a 2-year agreement. that's a lot of pluses, and over $800 in savings. get it all with fios and the 100% fiber-optic network. go to getfios.com. ♪ administration is officially declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency under federal law. powerful designation but one many on the front lines think just does not go far enough because it doesn't provide any new federal money. however it does give agencies some more latitude to redirect funds that are originally meant for other things. top opioid odd visor chris christie hope for the declaration of natural emergency to free up new funds for addiction treatment and prevention. there's no face of addiction it can be anybody anywhere. and one family we talk with did not realize their own son was struggling until a neighbor stepped in. >> he's now sharing his story as a sliver of hope that some are overcoming addiction with love, support and treatment. ♪ >> justin is a young man who had it all. >> justin. >> loving parents an older brother and sister, a nice house in middle class neighborhood in south jersey. >> look at this guy. >> justin grew up surround beside people who loved him. he played baseball and basketball and high school his future was bright. but during his sophomore year in high school he discovered marijuana. >> i knew from when i first pick up marijuana you can say it's a non addictive substance but my brain wanted to be high all the time. >> from there, justin found open yachts first it was pills. >> a lot easier to get. i don't have to sneak off and smoke it. i can put it in my mouth and swallow it. i can do it right in school. i can do it where i want. >> pills are expensive. >> 25, $30 a pill. >> eventually justin turned to heroin. >> they're not as poe ten as a bag of heroin would be for ten dollars. this is the path that just a lot easier to take when you're that deep and struggling with addiction. >> justin's parents terry and ja new jersey have been married for 41 years. justin is their youngest son. during high school, they noticed justin's grades slipping and he was losing interest in sports. just part of being a teenager they thought. others noticed a change in justin. a neighbor suggested to terry she drug test justin. >> oh, what? you know, no. he would never do that. i decided i was going to stop and get drug test and i did it and sure enough. we were shocked. >> my mom, you know, in conversations with her today thought i was going to pass. didn't think i was doing what i was doing. ♪ >> i'll never forget, you know, the pain i saw on their face when they realized kind of what was going on. >> i was named after my grandfather. >> jan is a recovering alcoholic he's been sober for six years. when he her the word heroin his world was turned upside down. >> i had to leave the treatment center because i didn't know -- i was so angry i didn't really know if i could control myself. >> justin's addiction continued to get worse. justin once a promising two sport athlete was asked to leave his high school teams. he started hanging around with the wrong crowd and was close to losing everything but says he can't imagine what his addiction did to his parents. >> i regret putting my parents through on daily basis. i can't imagine the worry. >> my blood pressure was through the roof. it philly makes you ill. >> reporter: justin continued to use so his parents gave him an ultimatum. get treatment and stay clean or they would not let him live in the house any more. >> terry says it's the toughest thing she's ever done in her life. >> it was horrible. but we stayed up all night sitting and crying. >> he realized quickly that, you know, it's going to be a lot harder, um, especial physical you got to live in camden. >> the emptiness that i felt, um, from not, you know, being allowed to live with my family from feeling unwanted, from, you know, people that i'm staying on their couch, um, and that's one of the biggest motivating factors i had for doing the work to stay sober. >> he did the work and stayed in treatment. now he works at humble beginnings a recovery center in cherry hill. justin was the first client who came through the program and now he's been clean for four years. >> this program is what has my heart. it's where i came from. um, so i believe in it. >> my peacock it if feathers are about this big. i'm really proud of him. >> terry and jan have been through a difficult journey with their son and they offer this wisdom to others because they know heroin does not discriminate. >> don't think it can't happen to you. don't think your kid is too smart or anything because it can happen to anybody. >> don't ever give up. no matter how hard it gets, how many times they have to go to treatment, don't ever give up. >> lives are on the line every single minute of every single day. with so many people trig to overcome opioid addiction but a south jersey doctor has a plan to save those lives and he's already launched it with the help of local authorities. ♪ michael: i'm thankful that i'm alive and have a second chance. james: i'm thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. darlene: i'm thankful to be able to help people in crisis. vanessa: i'm thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. christie: new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. but if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, i want you to know: we are here for you. this holiday season, choose help. call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov. whoa! the mercedes-benz winter event is back and you won't want to stop for anything else. [ barks ] ho! lease the gla 250 for $349 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. ♪ more more than babies are born each year in the u.s. with signs of heroin withdrawal. a new university of michigan study blames rising opioid drug use among women in rural areas. in 2013, 20% of newborns born there suffered withdrawal symptoms. enormous number. that is up from 13% two in 2004 which was staggering. these babies can develop breathing and sleeping problems and are at risk of seizures. drug overdose deaths in 2016 topped 64,000 people. that is the largest annual jump recorded in the united states. that makes combating this issue everyone's problem. >> one doctor in south jersey is doing his part with some help from law enforcement and recovery coaches to make a difference. >> ma'am, can you hear me? >> looks like we have an overdose here. >> this is a reenactment but happens all too often in gloucester county, new jersey. >> ma'am, are you there. >> doctors in the emergency room at kennedy health hospital in washington township have given more than thee hundred doses of narcan in the past two years. >> narcan is in. >> we see a lot of calls to the lobby to the parking lot a friend will bring somebody in and they say help my friend or worse case scenario they push them out of the car and take o off. >> we'll get you some help. you overdosed today. >> we're able to save the vast marma your are the. unfortunately we're losing a lot of people. a lot of people are dying. >> doctor james baird is on the front lines and seen the epidemic first hasn't. dr. baird is the assistant medical director in the emergency room at kennedy health hospital in washington township. after three years, he got frustrated saving people and seeing them come back again and again. he wanted to change the game. >> it look like you overdosed today. >> so he reach out to sergeant daniel laruso an undercover officer from the gloucester county's prosecutor's office. >> she would come up to me and say what are you doing here. now we look at her and say what are you doing, why are you letting these drug on the stre street. >> they is that righted sharing information and work together they started making progress. >> you have to understand addiction. they are going to do whatever it takes to get those drug. they're going to disappoint their families. if there's something we can do to put them into recovery or lead them towards the recovery, i think that's our part we have to do something. >> can i bring in somebody to talk to you about getting some help as far as your addiction? >> please. >> dr. baird did do something. he reached out to the city of angels a volunteer recovery group based in hamilton, new jersey. >> it's a place where they can get into a program. >> michelle perez found the the group four years ago. >> it's a matter of life and death. because when they're in here, they go back out, they can use again. >> finally have something to offer people other than what used to be just a pam appelate of phone numbers and say, try to get in somewhere. we had nothing. >> how you doing. >> good. how are you. >> my name is michelle. >> thanks to city of angels and recovery coaches, patients have been able to get treatment and begin the recovery process and recovery work. >> anyone who has been hook up way coach so far we haven't seen come back to the hospital. >> you can't collect a paycheck for that. you can't put a dollar sign on life. so that's why we do what we do. >> there's a lot of hurt a lost families out there that can't replace them. >> what they've all done is make a difference trying to solve the worst epidemic of our time. there's more to do and addiction isn't easy to treat. >> cursing at you saying some of the worst things that you could possibly imagine so it's getting -- it's seeing through that. it's seeing past that and seeing the person behind that that we're trying to get to. it can be solved. it will be solved. it's going to take decades. again we see treatment and recovery works you her in the piece not one person whose hooked up with one of those recovery coaches has been back to the hospital. that is progress. >> really is progress much that's amazing. but we all know no one can reach full recovery and get back to being healthy on their own. coming up next, where you can turn for help. ♪ michael: i'm thankful that i'm alive and have a second chance. james: i'm thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. darlene: i'm thankful to be able to help people in crisis. vanessa: i'm thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. christie: new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. but if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, i want you to know: we are here for you. this holiday season, choose help. call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov. ♪ across our area organizations are working to help people battling opioid addiction. such as saturday case with group never give up. each member has different reason for doing what they do. from their own perm struggles to family or friends battling drug addiction. >> they load up their trucks and cars with blessing bags, food and resources. they are on the streets helping for hours at a time even if it's discouraging they also find success stories often in unexpected places that keep them going. >> does it help you to be out here helping people. >> yes it does. i don't think if i didn't meet this group i don't think i would be sober. >> how long will you keep doing this? >> um, till i can't do it no more. >> a lot of people pulling for those acted. >> thank you so much for joining us for our overcoming opioid special. we're hoping more than just focusing in on this problem we gave you hope about all the people and all the groups trying to help. i mean as ramon cruz and rick ford told us in our opening piece, recovery is a live long process. >> it is. it does work and there are a lot of resources out there for those of you looking for it. if you're looking to find help, the family or friends of the group of opioids for look at some of those resources head to our website at fox29.com. ♪ michael: i'm thankful that i'm alive and have a second chance. james: i'm thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. darlene: i'm thankful to be able to help people in crisis. vanessa: i'm thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. christie: new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. but if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, i want you to know: we are here for you. this holiday season, choose help. call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov. really? 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