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Jacqueline Zanfagna Featured on 129 A Day

jackieJackie Zanfagna’s struggles became evident before her 10th birthday. Some called her a “difficult teen” but her mother, Anne Marie, and her father, Jim, knew that Jackie was struggling with a medical condition and desperately needed treatment. Her parents sought help from countless doctors to no avail. Jackie had bipolar tendencies. When she was at her best, she was a bright, engaged girl who loved animals, fashion, and cared fiercely for her niece and nephew. When she was at her worst, her self-esteem plummeted and she was prone to fits of rage. Her parents were left to patch the walls where her fist had bust the plaster.

Jackie’s suffering went undiagnosed. Anne Marie, who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, began noticing that her pain medication was missing and eventually valuables started disappearing too. When the Zanfagna’s realized that they couldn’t trust their daughter or her friends, they changed their locks, installed an alarm system, and got a guard dog.

Jackie survived one overdose but was so deeply ashamed that she pushed away the people who cared about her the most. Somehow, in the midst of what seemed a plummeting spiral, Jackie found some solid ground at the age of 25.

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Plaistow woman to host art show on addiction

572a89fd1f1a7.imagePLAISTOW — A local woman who lost her daughter to heroin will hold an art show in Portsmouth on Mother’s Day to bring attention to the toll of addiction.

Anne Marie Zanfagna of Plaistow began painting in August, almost one year after the death of her 25-year-old daughter, Jackie.

Jackie’s face was the first she painted. She chose an older photo, one where her daughter looked happy and healthy.

“I paint them to bring attention and awareness to the public about heroin because I want to put a face to the number,” she said. “I think showing this through art is really our basic humanity.”

Zanfagna brought Jackie’s portrait — a 12 ½-by-12 ½-inch pink-and-purple piece — to a monthly gathering at a church in Plaistow hosted by activist Doug Griffin of Newton.

She painted a portrait of Griffin’s daughter, Courtney, in December, and then the requests began to pour in. Courtney, 20, died of a heroin overdose in September 2014.

Read more on the Eagle Tribune.

WMUR’s Chronicle: Thursday, February 11th: Angels of Addiction

Thursday’s edition of WMUR’s Chronicle is available to watch online here:  February 11th: Angels of Addiction:

“A Plaistow mom is using her art to help heal. Anne Marie Zanfagna’s daughter Jackie was a victim of the heroin and opioid crisis facing our state. Now Anne Marie is keeping the faces of those lost, alive, and through her art she has found her voice and a way to help others.”
WMUR Photo

WMUR Photo

The outpouring of love and support for my work is so heartening. I’ve received more requests for portraits since this aired and anticipate as more people watch online I will continue to receive requests.

Please consider a donation to Angels of Addictions Startup Fund on GoFundMe to help pay for art supplies, the website and startup costs for a nonprofit (see the Wishlist on GoFundMe).

My goal is to take the portraits I am painting on a traveling exhibit to State Houses around the country and Capitol Hill in effort to raise awareness, provide solace and healing, to help erase the stigma of heroin addiction and most importantly get more help for our children as the heroin epidemic continues to grow.

Love and light… Anne Marie Zanfagna

In The News: OD Victims’ Parents Tell Their Stories

Eagle Tribune Photo: Ryan Hutton Staff Photographer

Eagle Tribune Photo: Ryan Hutton Staff Photographer

The Lawrence Eagle Tribune has a new article in its ongoing series on Heroin Addiction, The Heroin Crisis, highlighting the upcoming “special episode of Phil Lahey’s addiction awareness television show, “The Empty Chair,” set to air on Methuen Community Television this week.” Phil Lahey show is co-hosted with his daughter Colleen Lahey, who has been clean for seven years.

The hour-long special of “The Empty Chair” is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, and at 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29, on http://www.methuentv.org

Angels Of Addictions founder James Zanfagna, is one of the guests on the upcoming hour long episode and is featured in the Eagle Tribune article: OD victims’ parents tell their stories.