In a special year-end edition of Grieving Out Loud, we take a look back at some of the emotional and meaningful conversations featured on the podcast this year. The show, produced by Emily’s Hope and hosted by Angela Kennecke, spotlights families affected by the opioid epidemic, as well as experts working to curb the growing mental health and substance-use crisis.

Throughout 2025, Kennecke interviewed lawmakers, law enforcement leaders, and parents who have lost loved ones to fentanyl. Their stories, taken together, offer a clearer picture of the challenges communities are facing — and the efforts underway to create change.

Listen to the full episodes featured in this special: 

• Grieving Moms Take on Snapchat and Congress After Their Sons’ Fentanyl Deaths - Amy Neville & Bridgette Norring
• Naloxone Saved Me, Now I’m Saving Others: Morgan’s Story - Morgan Mentele
• ‘I lost who I was.’ Emily’s Hope Treatment Scholarship gives mom second chance - Melissa Carter
• A Paramedic Using His Battle With Addiction to Save Others - Aaron Westfall
• Teens Share What Really Works to Prevent Drug and Alcohol Use - Mollie Kruse
• A Mother’s Warning About Laced Marijuana - Paula Santos-Young
• Choosing Love After a Hate Crime Took Her Son and Father - Mindy Corporon

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Behind every number is a story of a life cut short, a family shattered, and a community devastated.

They were...

• daughters
• sons
• mothers
• fathers
• friends
• wives
• husbands
• cousins
• boyfriends
• girlfriends.

They were More Than Just A Number. 

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For more episodes and information, just go to our website, emilyshope.charity
Wishing you faith, hope and courage!

Podcast producers:
Casey Wonnenberg King & Kayli Fitz