Most people know Ana Gopoian as the Founder and Executive Director of TriCircle, but she also created TriCircle Restoration LLC, which was recently featured in another publicly shared video created by Ledge Light Health District (LLHD). This video helps listeners understand Ana’s creation of a growing statewide effort to bring awareness to the presence and prevalence of paraphernalia on the streets of every town in CT. It sheds light on how addiction is affecting all 169 towns in our state. The Paraphernalia Project was first created in 2015, while facilitating Hope & Support Groups for the Town of Wallingford. The CT 169 Paraphernalia Walking Project began in October of 2021, and Ana has already collected thousands of items related to substance use in over 80 miles of distance traveled in 122 walks.
Once collected, Ana sorts through miles worth of paraphernalia and organizes it for counting and data collection, before taking any pictures. Depending on the request, a PowerPoint presentation, laminated photos, and/or the actual items picked up and sorted for display are brought to the location or event for further discussion. Ana meets with the leaders of the towns, awareness groups, parents or public educators and administrators wherever she walks. Often met with shock, dismay, disbelief, and even denial, audiences are eventually grateful for what insight they gain regarding Ana’s findings. Issues are brought to the forefront and these interactions serve to open up meaningful and impactful conversations in a very tangible way. So many of the residuals that Ana picks up are pieces of the puzzle and unrecognizable to the average person. What does the packaging for Fentanyl or Heroin look like? What common beverage containers, related to drug use or alcohol, can we all say we are frustrated to see strewn about our roadways? Would we recognize a nitrous cartridge, collectible cannabis packaging, a variety of baggies used for packaging illegal substances, the small flower of a crack pipe bought from a convenience store, or parts of syringes? The outcomes of Ana’s walks are carefully cataloged as collected data. Paraphernalia, to Ana, is anything used to produce, consume or conceal an illegal substance or a legal substance used illegally.
The CT 169 Paraphernalia Walking Project is the expansion of the original Paraphernalia Project, started back in 2015. The original project made paraphernalia visible under the covers of glass top boxes, Ana started collecting items from supportive cleanouts she was offering to families. It is not just syringes, and blackened spoons that mark the use of illegal drugs, there are so many things to look for that may be indicators of risky addictive behaviors and mental health challenges. Parents, guardians, and loved ones are often surprised at the items that can easily be hidden or are sitting right out in plain sight. Towns are amazed by the number of different items that can be found on their streets that are considered paraphernalia used in connection with drugs, alcohol or are evidence of addictive behaviors.
The Paraphernalia Project, which can travel from place to place, currently has 5 glass top display boxes, over 200 items you can touch, PowerPoint presentations, videos, poster boards, and interactive experiences for event attendees. If you are interested in having this impactful presentation at your location or next event contact Ana to learn more. Ana’s personal lived experiences and passion drives her to educate others, offer tools and provide hope for individuals, families, communities, and professionals who are affected by or care about people affected by addiction. She openly identifies herself as a woman in recovery which has continued since July 13, 1995, and she recently celebrated 29 years!
Because of her burning desire to serve and make a difference in CT, Ana co-created these two organizations to complement each other. TriCircle Restoration, LLC and TriCircle (the nonprofit) are as much the same as they are different. TriCircle Restoration LLC houses The Paraphernalia Project, a traveling curriculum designed to educate parents, families, professionals, teachers, community leaders and others to recognize and act when they discover evidence of substance use in connection with their loved ones, clients, citizens or students. The latter, TriCircle, is an organization that provides resources for individuals, families, and communities affected by addiction and addictive behaviors, which is pretty much all of us. Everyone Knows Someone, is commonly stated. Through education and community engagement, Ana wants to continue creating solutions and providing the tools and resources that build strong futures.
Click here to see the YouTube video from the Ledge Light Health District’s Groton Alliance for Substance Use Prevention (GASP) featuring Ana and the CT 169 CT Paraphernalia Walking Project.