John Gudwer has been a Delta County resident for most of his life and has worked in law enforcement for more than 23 years. He started his career as a corrections officer in the Delta County Jail, where he first learned the effects that drugs and alcohol have on people in the local community. John then went to the Gogebic County Sheriff's Department and worked road patrol before becoming an officer for Escanaba Public Safety, where is is currently detective lieutenant. Once John started working as a police officer, he saw the cost drugs and alcohol had on his community--not only on the financial side, but also on the human side. He saw the dysfunction in families and young children growing up in unsafe environments. He saw how drugs were more important to some parents than their own children because of addiction. And he saw how drugs affect not only the person using them, but their families, too. While working at Escanaba Public Safety, John has had the honor of running the Angel program, which helps people with a substance use disorder get into treatment. "If we can get a person into recovery, we not only save them, we save everyone around them from the destruction of drugs and addiction," John says. "Once the addicted person is in recovery, hopefully they can begin to repair the relationships that have been destroyed." John has also learned that there is no real support for the families/friends of the addicted person. "There is treatment and support for the addicted person if they want to find it, but I don't know of any real program or support for the family and friends of the addicted person. This is why I want to be a part of Families Against Narcotics. I am hoping FAN can become a beacon of light for family and friends of the addicted person and give them hope."