Great Barrington — For the past 22 years, August 31 has marked International Overdose Awareness Day around the world.
According to International Overdose Awareness Day’s official website, the event was first held in 2001 in Australia, and since then, organizations around the world have joined in the event to raise awareness of overdose deaths and remember those who have died due to overdoses.
Between 2010 and 2021, 374 people died from overdoses in Berkshire County. Last year, an additional 48 overdose deaths were recorded in Berkshire County, bringing the total of overdose deaths since 2010 to 422.
On Thursday, August 31, a vigil was held at the South County Recovery Center, located at 67 State Road. In the front of the center, 422 purple flags of remembrance were placed for each person who died. The South County Recovery Center opened its Great Barrington office in May 2022 and is operated by Rural Recovery Resources.
“This event is important to honor people that have been lost due to overdoses,” organization recovery coach Stephanie Holcomb told The Berkshire Edge. “These overdoses have all been sad and preventable deaths. We want residents to remember these people and all of those who are lost every single year.”
According to its website, the mission of the organization and the center is to “engage, assist, refer, and empower people who are affected in any way by addiction; to improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential, in a judgment-free atmosphere.” The center offers programs, including coaching, support groups, peer support services, and resources for addicts and recovering addicts.
“Harm reduction is needed to prevent further deaths,” Holcomb said. “We need to get Narcan out there in the community and to educate people about places like the Recovery Center. We want to smash the stigma of addiction so we don’t have as many deaths in the Berkshires. The stigma is shame and embarrassment going into treatment facilities and not being treated like a human being.”
Holcomb herself said that she has been in long-term recovery from addiction. “In my personal experience, many times I walked out [of recovery centers] due to the perceived stigma of addiction,” Holcomb said. “That’s why it’s important to have an organization such as Rural Recovery and this center.”
Former Berkshire Medical Center Chaplain AnnE O’Neil, who now lives in Durham, N.C., took part in the event. O’Neil lost her 38-year-old nephew in 2019 due to a cocaine overdose. “I did the first Berkshire area overdose awareness vigil back in 1990,” O’Neil said. “These lives have all been lost needlessly. We can bring these numbers down with awareness of harm reduction. The number of deaths due to overdoses continues to grow all the time, and it just doesn’t have to happen.”
O’Neil emphasized the importance of honoring those who have died from overdoses. “Sometimes these deaths get dismissed as ‘just another addict died,’” O’Neil said. “It’s important to honor these people as the people they were.”
Event participant and Pittsfield resident Holly Merchant lost her son last May due to a Fentanyl-related overdose. “He was dealing with a multi-year struggle of addiction,” Merchant said. “He died just after his 36th birthday, and we are still trying to come to terms with it. We are also trying to come out of the shadows and let people know that there are a lot of us out there who are losing people to substance abuse. It’s a lonely battle.”
Merchant said that there needs to be more resources and help offered for those dealing with addiction. “We found it very difficult for him to find help and get him to agree to it,” Merchant said. “We are still finding out what the end of his life was like, and it’s very painful.”
Merchant said that her son became involved in drugs when he was a young adult. “He kind of made his way toward heroin, then subsequently fentanyl,” Merchant said. “We need to recognize that the number of people who die every year continues to increase, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. People need help, and the resources we still have are still not enough.” Merchant said that addiction “should be seen as just as important as cancer.” She explained, “There needs to be a move to get help for the uninsured. I feel that people who are in the throes of addiction are all worth saving. It’s worth revamping our healthcare system to make real recovery possible, no matter how destitute, or down and out you are.”
For more information on Rural Recovery Resources and The South County Recovery Center go to its website.
