Saturday is International Overdose Awareness Day, and South Bend’s recovery community plans an event Friday to remember those we’ve lost.
On Friday evening in downtown South Bend, substance abuse recovery groups will host an Overdose Awareness Event. The goal is to remember, without stigma, those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind.
Oaklawn’s Robin Vida chairs The Partnership for a Drug-Free St. Joseph County. She hopes people will bring pictures of their loved ones and share positive things about them.
Organizers will distribute free naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses and demonstrate how to use it.
Vida says the county’s drug overdose deaths are on track to decline this year. There had been 45 deaths as of August 12. If that pace continues there will be 77 on the year, compared to 97 last year and 95 the year before.
But Vida notes that drug overdoses are not declining.
"Really we're seeing less overdose fatality because of the access to naloxone and individuals knowing how to use it," Vida said. "So really we need to keep our heads to the ground and keep our efforts going because we still are right where we've always been these last couple or five years, when we look at overdoses that are nonfatal."
Of course, Vida said keeping more people alive with naloxone after they overdose creates more chances to help them get sober.
The event will run 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. outside Recovery Cafe, 333 N. Main Street.
