After turning personal tragedy into action, a couple is ready to step down from Delaware addiction group

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A couple’s loss of their son to an overdose turned grief into action more than 13 years ago.

Don and Jeanne Keister never expected to become leaders in Delaware’s response to the opioid crisis. But after their son, Tyler, died in December 2012, the Newark couple made a decision that would shape the next decade of their lives.

By early 2013, they had launched atTAcK Addiction, a nonprofit organization aimed at closing gaps in treatment, reducing stigma and saving lives. What began as small meetings in a classroom at Caravel Academy has since grown into a statewide organization with a resource center, recovery housing, legislative influence and thousands of supporters.

Now, after more than a decade of advocacy, the couple is stepping away from leadership, passing the torch to a new generation.

For Don Keister, the work has always been rooted in loss — and in healing.

“The one wound of losing a child is large enough as a wound to deal with. And sometimes it’s easier and sometimes it comes on you and it’s difficult. I feel like my wife and I have handled this better than some knowing that we had a child that passed,” Don Keister said, noting this proactive approach became a healing journey for them.

Instead of grieving in silence, the Keisters chose to speak openly — and to act.

The accolades

One of the organization’s earliest priorities was creating stable housing for people in recovery.

“We felt that we needed some place for folks in recovery to go, to live, and so that they could [live] in a drug-free situation where they could recover. So, we felt it was important to try to get some housing,” he said. “At first, we rented some properties and got folks into them. Then gradually, we were able to get our own houses so that they could have a place to live and we could support them in that way.”

Over time, atTAcK Addiction moved from renting properties to owning them. At its peak, the organization owned five recovery homes across Delaware. Recently, two of those homes were transferred to Impact Life, a nonprofit partner that continues to provide recovery housing and services.

But housing was only one part of the Keisters’ mission.

From the beginning, advocacy and policy reform were central to their work. Keister said atTAcK Addiction helped pass or support more than 10 pieces of legislation focused on addiction and recovery.

“We really were concentrating on policy,” he said. “The very first one, we all went to Dover to talk to whoever would listen regarding the 9/11 Good Samaritan law.”

The law protects people from arrest when they call for help during an overdose.

Similarly, Keister is proud of his efforts to pass the naloxone bill in Delaware, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses.

“Another one was the naloxone bill. We were about the 17th state to have naloxone available to individuals … it has made a difference,” he said. “It is something that reverses opioids and it is something that has saved a lot of lives.”

In addition to legislative work, the nonprofit focused on community outreach. The organization hosts and attends events across the state to reduce stigma surrounding substance use disorder. It also helped push for the nation’s first Opioid Impact Fee Fund legislation, which provides direct funding for treatment and recovery in Delaware.

Each year, the nonprofit also hosts an annual 5K on the first Saturday in March in Old New Castle — around Tyler Keister’s birthday — to honor loved ones lost to addiction and celebrate those in recovery.

Since atTAcK Addiction was founded in 2013, more than 4,500 people in Delaware have died from overdoses. However, recent data shows signs of progress. In 2024, the state recorded its first major decline in overdose deaths in more than a decade, dropping from 527 deaths in 2023 to 338 in 2024.

‘Not a character flaw, its medical’

After over 13 years of leading atTAcK Addiction, Keister said one of the most important lessons he learned was changing how he viewed addiction itself.

“Well, one thing that I’ve learned is that it’s not a character flaw,” he pointed out. “It’s a medical issue that has to be dealt with and it’s one of the things that causes people not wanting to talk about it. They don’t want their family to know. They don’t want anyone to know.”

He said breaking down that stigma has been a central motivation to his work.

“They’re not bad people. They need help and they need medical attention of some kind and so many just don’t realize it, and then they are in such a position that they don’t want to take that step,” he said. “So, if we can help someone, take that step and support them either with housing, food or something, I feel like that is something that society needs and that is worthwhile helping.”

Passing it forward

Moving on and passing the torch was emotional for Kiester. He said stepping away from leadership means more than giving up a title. It means trusting the next generation to continue the work he and his wife began more than a decade ago.

“I had a lot of personal hard work and my wife says, ‘Would you stop that? It’s in good hands and don’t you worry about it. And what you’ve done.’ That was a little bit hard for me but I’ve become accustomed to the fact,” he said.

Today, he says he is encouraged by how much the addiction recovery landscape has grown since atTAcK Addiction was founded.

“When we first started, there weren’t any organizations, and now different organizations have popped up. And I don’t look at it as if it’s a competition. I look at it as a combination to work together to make these things happen,” he said. “And there are a lot of other people that have started organizations to become involved.”

As new leaders take over, including Dawn Hess-Fischer, a founding board member who was voted by the board to serve as president, Keister hopes the organization continues to center its mission on people in recovery and expands resources for schools.

“I hope that atTAcK Addiction can continue on with helping those that are either in recovery or should be in recovery, finding a place for them to fit and helping them,” he said. “I really believe that getting [the message] into the schools is a key point.”