(California, US) – For International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31, organizations and grassroots groups across California are holding community events to honor the lives of loved ones lost to overdose, and to raise awareness about overdose prevention.
Between 2023 to 2024, California saw a promising 30% decrease in overdose deaths. However, thousands of people are still being lost to preventable overdose each year. More than 40% of people in the United States know someone who died of an overdose. Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities continue to be disproportionately impacted by the overdose crisis across California and the country.
Since it began 25 years ago in Australia, Overdose Awareness Day has moved activists and communities across the world to demand action and push for lifesaving, public-health based solutions to overdose. To mark this day of remembrance, Californians will be hosting vigils, free naloxone trainings, community events and more.
A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing) and Moms United to End the War on Drugs will be hosting a vigil and collecting wallet size pictures of individuals lost to overdose for their Tree of Remembrance, which will be displayed in San Diego Aug. 31 at 6:00 p.m. at Crown Point Park. The event will include community partners such as the Society of Addiction Recovery Residences, Boardwalk, and Say SD. Participants can also decorate tombstones to honor a loved one lost to drugs as part of the national Trail of Truth campaign. Overdose prevention training and free naloxone kits will be available.
The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department, County of Santa Clara Behavioral Health Services Department and the City of San José are hosting a free community event in honor of Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 27 at Roosevelt Park from 3 to 6 p.m., located at 901 E. Santa Clara St., San José, CA 95116. The event will feature a resource fair with over 25 community-based organizations offering harm reduction supplies, free naloxone kits, housing resources, community referrals, and treatment access information. Attendees will also have an opportunity to commemorate loved ones lost to overdose at a memorial altar and Zen Garden.
In recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day, Los Angeles County will host a community walk/run on Aug. 26, with registration beginning at 8:00 a.m., to promote hope, healing, and recovery. Participants will gather at Hollenbeck Park before walking to the 6th Street Bridge, and back in remembrance of those lost to overdose and those impacted by substance use disorder. The event will also feature live mariachi music to bring the community together in remembrance and hope. Community organizations will be on-site providing information about treatment, recovery, overdose prevention services and other lifesaving resources. The event is hosted by LA County Departments of Health Services and Public Health and ByLAforLA, LA County's overdose prevention awareness campaign.
On Aug. 31, Access Support Network will host an event to recognize Overdose Awareness Day in Chinatown, Salinas, a community deeply affected by overdose but not always centered in these conversations, despite being home to many of the people most affected by overdose. Together, attendees will honor lives lost and support those who continue to be impacted through memorial rock painting for a memorial rock garden, memorial wall, food, and community connection. Free naloxone and fentanyl test strips will be provided, as well as overdose prevention resources and education. This event is a time to gather, remember, and ensure that the people and community most affected by overdose are seen, supported, and honored. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Organizations and advocates across California are calling for support of harm reduction programs, which provide critical health interventions to people who use drugs and those with substance use disorders. To prevent overdose, it is essential to mobilize community support for health and supportive services, and create equitable access to lifesaving medications for people who are using drugs. Many of the community events above are being hosted by partners of the California Overdose Prevention and Harm Reduction Initiative (COPHRI). COPHRI supports the health, safety, dignity and autonomy of people who use drugs through evidence-based health services andis made possible through California's opioid settlement funds.
Services delivered by funded partners embody compassion, empathy, allyship and community-building while rejecting judgment and coercion. COPHRI represents the State of California's commitment to providing the highest possible standard of health for all Californians.
Gretchen Bergman
Co-Founder / Executive Director
A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing)
3930 Oregon St. Ste. 210
San Diego, Ca 92104
gret@anewpath.org
Owner / Director Gretchen Productions
gret@gretchenproductions.com
