An Overdose Awareness Week
running from August 28th through
September 3rd was organized to bring to light the ongoing problem of opioid
overdoses in the City and to highlight the variety of resources available
to victims. A candlelight vigil was organized on on International
Overdose Awareness Day, August 31, 2016, on the plaza in front of
Government Center to bring people together in unity. Following an
invocation by Rev. Robert Lawrence and remarks by Mayor Jasiel Correia II,
Recover
Fall River Organizer Laurie Godwin invited Bill Desmarais
to hand out white homing pigeons for survivors to release. Following music
by John Botelho, Officer Kevin Lopes spoke about his experiences helping
one family deal with addiction and Joan Paquette Pearce spoke about losing
her daughter to overdose. The evening concluded with statements by Kathy,lRagael, and William
Scannell and a 12-minute video.
The event is in response to the steady
rise in overdose deaths in Fall River over the past several years, with numbers
moving from 16 in 2013 to 44 in 2014 and 36 in 2015. Click
here for a 50-minute 
video of the event. Click
here for the Herald News article. Click
here for photos of a door to door information campaign and here for a
candlelight procession to Saint Anne's Shrine. For more information, contact the Mayor's
Office at 508-324-2600. |
|
(Top row) People
arrive at Government Center from Kennedy Park where Rev.
Robert Lawrence and Senator Michael Rodrigues speak with Patrolman Kevin
Lopes. (Row two) Mayor Jasiel Correia
II chats with City Substance Abuse Grants Coordinator Michael Aguir and
others at the event. (Row three) Participants gather, including Francine Allard and Milietza Allende of drugdead.org,
center, before the speaking begins. (Rows four and five) Bill Desmarais,
center, hands out white homing pigeons to survivors to release just
before John Botelho and his partner sings the Simon and Garfunkel song,
"The Boxer". (Row five) Raphael, Joan, and Kathy talk about
their experiences with addiction. (Bottom row) Shirley Black
of Nurses
to Prevent Opioid Abuse introduces a a
12-minute locally-produced video
celebrating the lives of those lost. |
