- February 6, 2025
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Rebecca Schneider started using drugs when she was 14.
Her mother, Lisa Schmidt, could see her daughter's behavior had changed when Schneider started attending middle school. Schmidt decided to start homeschooling her daughter, but her daughter continued to find ways to get drugs. Then Schmidt put her in the Residential Adolescent Program through Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare.
Schneider did not stay in the program.
It wasn't until Schmidt's daughter snuck out one night with some friends — one of whom shot a gun during a fight — that it was clear something else had to be done.
When Schneider returned to home, several police officers were waiting. She and her friend were arrested, and Schneider was ordered by the court to return to the Residential Adolescent Program.
After a few months, she left the program again. But this time, a court order had been violated.
"She got in with the wrong crowd, and I just couldn't keep her away from it," Schmidt said. "The kids were getting into the medicine cabinets, and the Oxycontin was coming around. It was that era when everyone was experimenting, and everyone was getting addicted."
By this time, Schneider was also doing synthetic heroin, and once again, Schmidt put her daughter back into a detox program.
It was a rainy day, on Aug. 27, 2012, when Schneider completed the program. When her parents arrived to pick her up, instead of getting into their car, Schneider had other plans. A truck was waiting for her, as well. In the passenger's side, crouched on the floorboards, was the driver. Schneider jumped into the driver's side and pulled out of the parking lot and sped onto Route 92.
Her parents weren't going to give up. They drove behind the truck, following Schneider.
When Schneider pulled onto Interstate 95, the truck started fishtailing. Then it rolled. With her parents watching, Schneider was killed instantly. She was only 19.
The person who had been in the truck with her walked away with only scratches.
"When Rebecca died, I couldn't get out of bed for months," Schmidt said. "I was just so distraught and so suicidal; I was under doctor's care from her dying."
Months went by, and, despite her devastation, Schmidt recalled, "I wanted to do something in remembrance of Rebecca, but I didn't know what."
Eventually, leaders at Stewart-Marchman asked Schmidt to visit one of their programs and talk to the people there about her experience.
"There were so many young girls out there, and I would see my daughter's face within that," Schmidt said.
Schmidt began working with people in the detox programs and soon realized she not only wanted to assist people on their journey to recovery, she wanted to provide a place where they could recover.
"I thought, maybe if I could help just one person maybe it'll save their parents from the pain I went through." Lisa Schmidt
It wasn't until her sister told her about a building on Ridgewood Avenue that a church was renting that Schmidt's mission started coming to life. She noted that while she didn't know what she was doing, she did know that she had to have the home.
Using her own finances, Schmidt began by renting out the home, opening it up to people who were serious about leaving behind their drug addictions. In 2013, the Rebecca Schneider Foundation was formed.
In August 2017, Schmidt's mother and a friend purchased the home for her. Schmidt still pays rent and had the house furnished for the residents. Because she is currently working full-time and trying to earn her doctorate for criminal justice, she has little time for fundraisers and heavily relies on her own finances and the fee paid by the residents to keep the home open.
Today, there are three residents at the home. Schmidt and her house manager, Anthony Annatone, who has been free of drug use for seven years, work to make sure the people who lived there are doing their best to recover.
Residents have to sign in and out; there is a curfew; random drug tests are done; and everyone is asked to attend regular meetings to assist in their recovery. Individuals must also have a job.
Schmidt is set on helping people recover and has also had to ask residents to leave if they are not working on their recovery and continue to do drugs.
The Rebecca Schneider Foundation may not have been something Schmidt had planned for, but it has become a place to help others in her daughter's memory.
"This wasn't my calling," Schmidt said. "I thought, maybe if I could help just one person, maybe it'll save their parents from the pain I went through."
