“I started thinking about what I could do to help all the affected kids that are losing parents to drugs or incarceration or living with parents who are abusing drugs,” Matteson said. “If you’re in a drug household, you’re not getting family dinners or vacations or anything like that so it makes me focus on the children.”

With the children on his mind, Matteson came up with a new plan. Rather, his own foundation. With the help of his fiance, Kristine Gehling, who herself has lost a close friend to drug addiction, Matteson started the C.O.P.E foundation. COPE’s focus is on the children who are impacted by drug abuse.

“We are the only known organization in Western New York to exclusively serve children,” Matteson said. “Parents have the right to say yes or no to drugs but they shouldn’t drag their kids into it.”

COPE provides a four step process for children, as part of what Matteson calls the Circle of Light. The process begins with getting kids out for social interaction, where they are sent to take a trip somewhere fun.

Bill Matteson, center, and others participate in the Sept. 25 walk.

“We take the kids out of that environment and send them somewhere fun,” Matteson said. “We sent a family to Splash Lagoon, they can go hiking, to a zoo, or see a movie. It lets them get out and see real life.”

The second step is life coaching, as COPE provides access to licensed social workers who are child certified, which includes people outside of just Chautauqua County. The third step is for physical healing, which can be any physical activity that gets them interacting with other people and making new friends. And the last step is mental healing, which Matteson views as the most important.

“They get to realize that there’s life on the other side of the fence,” Matteson said. “The biggest part of that is for children to know it isn’t their fault and know it isn’t the path they have to take.”

On the final weekend in September, COPE held their first annual walk event, called the Walk to Remember. The Walk was done in memory of Matteson’s son and Gehling’s friend, Elise Hupcej. With it being the first one, the turnout for people who actually walked the 3.8-mile loop from the Harvest Chapel Church in Fredonia to the Dunkirk Pier may sound small, but there were many people who donated to the cause without walking.

“The walk was open to the public,” Matteson said. “We had 26 participants walking but we had about 79 donating. A lot of people donated and didn’t walk. The first annual of anything is always small.”

In the time since COPE has started, it’s gotten bigger than Matteson imagined it would. He’s had contact with many local officials, drug court, and social services people. He now has a board consisting of doctors, professors, and teachers providing him with a lot of necessary assistance. COPE is also in the process of expanding to other locations for areas that need it.

“We’ve met people from Tonawanda and Olean and other places who have similar stories,” Matteson said. “We are looking at a second branch in Olean, the problem there is really bad.”

During the third week of every month, the COPE board is meeting and they hope to have the satellite office in Olean set up by Christmas. With all the things COPE has going, including the first annual walk, have given Matteson the comfort of knowing that his son isn’t gone for nothing.

“The word is out that this is all about the children,” Matteson said. “My son isn’t gone in vain. There’s positives coming out of this and I think he’d be happy knowing we were helping people, especially children.”

Those wishing to donate or learn more about COPE can visit COPE’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/COPE-Foundation-105402328474052 or the website at https://www.copefoundation19.com/.