Activities 2020

Crisis Phone 2020 is an art installation that will be on display for the next six months outside the Norfolk Street library. It consists of a decommissioned public telephone painted red and black, with quotes scrawled in either black or white paint.

The project is intended as a reflection on the opioid crisis and the impact it is having on the community in Guelph.

The installation consists of a standalone public telephone which has been repainted and covered in quotations relevant to the conversation.

At its heart is a black telephone and below it where the phone book would be found are empty pages that can be filled by people passing by.

Health officials outside Pioneer Arena in Castlegar trained residents how to use a naloxone kit during an emergency.

Today, International Overdose Awareness Day, the Porcupine Health Unit, supported by the Timmins and Area Drug Strategy, unveiled a new mural in downtown Timmins. International Overdose Awareness Day commemorates those affected by overdose and gives an opportunity for communities to mourn loved ones and speak about them with pride.

An awareness event featuring speakers surrounded by a display of dozens of purple flags, each bearing a message about the overdose crisis.

Vigil held in Nelson to mark International Overdose Awareness Day.

On Monday, ANKORS set up 175 empty pairs of shoes to symbolize the July deaths as well as a coffin built by ANKORS staff member Alex Sherstobitoff in the parking lot outside its office at 101 Baker St. A candlelight vigil was also later held at Cottonwood Park.

hanging purple ribbons with the names of people who have died from overdoses on the Albert Street Memorial Bridge in Regina.

Hundreds of shoes will be placed in Victoria park on Monday night in honour of International Overdose Awareness Day

Saskatchewan families advocate for urgent solutions to overdose crisis.

On Monday, families of Regina gather to mark International Overdose Awareness Day at the mâmawêyatitân centre and outside the legislative building.

Dozens of people congregated at Clergue Park Monday afternoon to remember lives lost to overdose.

The memorial walk, organised by the relatively new peer support group Addiction and Mental Health Advocates, was held in concert with International Overdose Awareness Day events taking place throughout the world Monday.

On Monday night, in recognition of Overdose Awareness Day, the B.C. legislature building will be lit with purple lights. There will also be an online vigil to remember those who have lost their lives to the overdose crisis.

Drums will be playing during a memorial to remember overdose victims in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Aug. 31, 2020. People will take part in a memorial event in Vancouver to commemorate their beloved ones who died from drug overdose on the International Overdose Awareness Day, which is a global event held on August 31 each year that aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of drug-related death.

A memorial mural was unveiled Monday in front of the Carnegie Community Centre, to enable families and friends of people who have passed away from an overdose to have a public way to show grief and honour their loved ones.

The mural has been designed by local artist Smokey D, and also features a blank space for anyone to write the names of their own loved ones.

Local Kamloops woman creates a display in her front yard to honour her nephew

Flags of hope will be on display while advocating for an unscheduling of naloxone, which can reverse the affects of an opioid overdose, during an International Overdose Awareness Day gathering at Stephen Juba Park in Winnipeg

Peace Country Drug Awareness Coalition advocates lined 100 Street to raise awareness of the ongoing opioid crisis.

WRIDS virtual panel

Volunteers used purple ribbons to tie hundreds of pairs of shoes to the railing of the Burrard Bridge on Sunday morning, in preparation for International Overdose Awareness Day.

Each pair had a small note attached to them, highlighting the thousands of British Columbians who have died from overdose since a public health emergency was declared in 2016.

Free BBQ and health fair.
Come out to learn about all the addiction services offered throughout Dufferin County.

Overdose awareness raising through t-shirt sales
Purple t-shirts are being sold to raise money for the Tanner Steffler Foundation, created in honour of the Seaforth teen who died from a drug overdose in June of 2017

This year, the Ontario Provincial Police is marking International Overdose Awareness Day with a community safety educaiton video highlightoing the impact overdose is having on the community, reminding citizens of the legal protection the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act (GSDOA) and encouraging citizens to call 911 in the case of overdoses and emergencies.

A group of about 60 people- firefighters, paramedics and RCMP officers attended an international opioid overdose awareness day march and vigil.
Amanda Hudson, the Nova Scotia take home naloxone program coordinator, was a guest speaker and provided the crowd with facts and figures about overdoses in the province.
Naloxone training in Victoria Park

On a banner, people to come and write the names of loved ones they lost. There will be purple-coloured empty chairs lined up to represent the space of loved ones people present had lost.

In honour of Overdose Awareness Day, a rally is taking place near Vancouver’s Main and Hastings streets

Vigil of remembrance

A community event to spread awareness on IOAD including multiple speeches.

Chilliwack Overdose Prevention Society (OPS) will host a candelight vigil for loved ones the community has lost to overdose.

Purple ribbons are available for everybdy.

ENSEMBLE Services Greater Moncton, in partnership with John Howard Society of Southeastern New Brunswick, will be hosting an event on Monday, August 31st from 1-3pm at ENSEMBLE, located at 80 Weldon St. in Moncton.
International Overdose Awareness Day is a day to come together and to remember those lost to overdose. There will be purple memorial ribbons displayed to honour loved ones lost. For anyone wishing to include the name of a loved one, they can contact us at 859-9616, by email at general@ensemblegm.ca, or through ENSEMBLE’s facebook page.
We will also be having a BBQ at that time and we will have harm reduction resources available, as well as naloxone training & naloxone kits.

Free Naloxone training and moment of peace for those who lost their lives to the opioid crisis.

We are having speakers about harm reduction…speakers on recovery and will be showing a video of all of our loved ones that have passed and each family member will be asked to come up and speak about their loved one. We will also have naloxone training.

The Williams Lake Boys & Girls Club, TNG, Interior Health and the Salvation Army are hosting a community information session for Overdose Awareness. Naloxone training and demonstrations (including nasal Naloxone) and information about harm reduction, including Take Home Drug Testing strips and the new Lifeguard app will be available. Naloxone kits available.
Please practice social distancing.

Langley CAT have prepared purple flags to be placed in two public locations in Fort Langley and at the Derek Doubleday Arboretum. There will be 144 flags placed in the ground, to represent the 144 lives Langley has lost to overdose since 2016.
The Douglas Park Spirit Square and the 200 Street Overpass will be lit up purple from dusk Aug 31st to dawn Sept 1st.

On August 31, the people of Lethbridge will come together from 5 to 8 pm at City Hall. They will be mourning the deaths of Albertans from all walks of life due to drug overdose. They will also mourn the loss of the ARCHES Supervised Consumption Site which is closing at 4:30 pm on August 31. This event will be a somber but peaceful rally and will include a “Die-In” in front of City Hall followed by a candlelight vigil walk from City Hall to ARCHES and back.

This event is organized by concerned Albertans including employees of ARCHES, persons with lived experience, volunteers with Moms Stop The Harm and has the support of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, the Raging Grannies and Friends of Medicare.

Laying out 13 people in honour of the 13 people we have lost so far this year from the toxic drug supply. We will have naloxone and other safe supplies available along with as much educational items that we can!

Irene (Moms Stop the Harm) and Angie (Famillies for Addiction Recovery) invite you join this global movement for Understanding, Compassion, Awareness and Change
Overdose Awareness Day, Aug. 31st
EVENTS:
• Mayor John Tory will proclaim Overdose Awareness Day in Toronto on Monday 8/31
• 11am ~ The Mayor will raise the International Overdose Awareness Day Flag at Toronto City Hall.
The podium flag deck is closed to the public. The Flag Raising can be viewed from Nathan Phillips Square.
• 8pm ~ Toronto’s iconic CN TOWER will illuminate PURPLE at dusk on Aug. 31st for Overdose Awareness Day.
A CANDLELIGHT VIGIL will be held at Roundhouse Park to honour our loved ones.

LifeLine

A contemporary dance performance by Genevieve Johnson

Dramaturgy by Holly Bright

Score by Genevieve Johnson (poetry) and Sofina Johnson (composition)

Produced by Crimson Coast Dance Society with support from CAT, Community Action Team

August 31, 4pm and 6:00pm

Wesley Street at Fitzwilliam – at the Standing Figure Sculpture across from St. Andrew’s Church (Sculpture by Troy Moth)

LifeLine is a reflection on the crisis of addiction both as a society and in one’s personal life and intends to reflect compassionate understanding for the addict’s choices while recognizing the desire and the gravitas associated with the choice to use.

~the fifth stanza of the accompanying poem by Genevieve Johnson:
Freedom
Un-perfecting until calm
Meandering around corners
With patience
Scoping the inner land
without judgment
landscapes under skin pulsing
fault lines gaps wounds: all doors to new territories
Being different as sacred
Are we alright?
the child within
is
an
oak walking
fractal self
becoming Arbutus
facing all winds

Standing Figure Sculpture: Troy Moth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXF1oQ7cUJA&feature

A gathering that centres the power of art and solidarity as a path to healing, while highlighting and advocating for what will ensure our dignity and quality of life. Activities will include patch-making for our community quilt, a speaker’s corner and food.

Please join Highfield PharmaChoice & the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs (CAPUD) for a community naloxone training including stories of lived experience of reversing overdoses with naloxone. We aim to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths.

International Overdose Awareness Day spreads the message that overdose death is preventable and acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have died or had a permanent injury as a result of drug overdose.

Dear Project Partners,

The Provincial Perinatal Substance Use Project is proud to present a webinar in honour of Overdose Awareness day. This webinar will be hosted by Dr. Annabel Mead, Director of the St. Paul’s Hospital Goldcorp Addiction Medicine Fellowship with the BC Centre on Substance Use.

On August 31st at 12:00pm we invite you to join us to remember the lives lost and learn how best to move forward. Register here: https://mediasite.phsa.ca/Mediasite/Play/dcaae6baa1ac4667ac19c55f73e8ffd01d

You will learn:
• How COVID19 has impacted our communities and the overdose health care emergency at large.
• About the communities and populations who have experienced the greatest losses.
• What we as carers and professionals can do to reverse the growing number of cases and overdose deaths.

Who should attend:
• Service providers (including physicians, clinicians) who work with people who may be impacted by substance use and those from difficult realties.

A link to the recording will be available following the session live session.

Presenters:

Dr. Annabel Mead, MBBS, is Director of the St. Paul’s Hospital Goldcorp Addiction Medicine Fellowship with the BC Centre on Substance Use. Her primary research interests and expertise include trauma-informed care, prevention and early intervention in substance-using populations, and safe and effective clinical management of opioid addiction and/or chronic pain in urban health settings and among vulnerable populations. Over the span of her medical career, Dr. Mead has developed clinical expertise in addiction medicine, complex pain management, concurrent psychiatric disorders, and women’s health, with a consistent focus on integrating teaching activities that foster excellence in clinical practice, leadership, research, and advocacy within the next generation of healthcare professionals. She has been involved in the design and implementation of medical education curricula in a range of practice settings and topic areas, including clinical management of sexual assault, safe opioid agonist prescribing, psychosocial interventions for substance misuse, and complex pain conditions.

Dr. Charissa Patricelli is the Medical Director of the Families in Recovery (FIR) Combined Care Unit at BC Women’s Hospital. She is a family physician specialized in addiction medicine and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Family Practice at UBC. Originally from Northern Canada, her first career was in nursing, neonatology and pediatrics taking her to the southern US and outpost nursing stations throughout BC. Since earning her MD from UBC, she has worked in general practice, with street youth in Vancouver, in perinatal consult services at BC Women’s Hospital, the Addiction Medicine Consult Service at Royal Columbian Hospital, the Maxxine Wright Community Health Centre for women and children affected by substance use or violence, and opioid replacement clinics. She has also served as the physician lead for the Community Birth Program in Surrey, a collaborative maternity care program with midwives, physicians, doulas and nursing.

Panelists:

Hawkfeather Peterson, Advocate; Person with Lived Experience

Dr. Carolyn Marchand, BCCSU Addiction Medicine Fellow

Dr. Tosh Mizzau, BCCSU Addiction Medicine Fellow

Light up purple of both Delta City Hall and Delta School District Office with purple lights in commemoration of IOAD
Time of light up is unclear but will be in evening

Gathering of people from the Delta Community Action table for photo. Crosses, flags, banner, tshirts #endoverdose. We would like to be able to hold a public event, but covid restrictions prevents that so, it is strictly a private event that will be posted publically after on our webpage

International Overdose Awareness Day
Where: Street Angels
When: August 31st from 11am to 2pm
What: Street Angels, Scotty’s Recovery and Mary Basil Detox are hosting a community BBQ for Overdose Awareness. There will be take away burgers and pop, Naloxone training and demonstrations, discussions about overdoses in BC, and information about harm reduction. Please practice social distancing, sanitize, and watch for space markers when getting your food/drink.
Naloxone kits available.

Taking place starting on the boadwalk @ 5pm we will have a cermony for those who wish to write something on a rock and release it into the St. Mary\s River. from there we will proceed down to Gore St. where we will have a bbq with refreshments, freiends and family. Pictures and posters most welcome.

August 31, 2020 – International Overdose Awareness Day! 💜

Please join us at the PORT CREDIT LIGHTHOUSE for a small, social distancing ceremony as it will be coloured purple in honour and recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day.

The small ceremony will be used to honour and pay respect to our loved ones that we’ve lost to the Opioid Epidemic, to raise awareness and to put an end to the stigma!

Please feel free to bring a picture of your loved one, to light a candle, bring a flower or wear purple in support of IOAD.

We will host an online screening of the short documentary film, ‘the commUNITY project’, produced by the Haliburton Kawartha Lakes Northumberland Drug Strategy. It will be available to watch August 25-31 at youtube.com (see link below).

“Canada is facing an opioid crisis. People are dying in unprecedented numbers and communities across the country are struggling to find ways to address the problem. As the issue continues to create division, the question becomes, how do we build more compassionate communities in the face of the struggle? Can kindness help us heal?”

Volleyball, badminton, bingo, barbecue, potluck? Hot dogs hamburgers, chips, popsychology, juice, water and hopefully a small fire on the beachfront if the fire department approves it

Education and awareness (social media, print media, email blast, promoting the purple theme)
Naloxone distribution and training
Sharing professional development resources with community partners and workplaces related to stigma and overdose
Municipal proclamations
Encouraging people to share their stories of loved one lost to overdose
Supporting and promoting related community partner events

The purpose behind our event is to shed light on overdose and to honor those we have lost. We will have tables with HR supplies, plans for education (Naloxone training, etc.), purple ribbons, sidewalk chalk, purple heart posties, and masks to give away. Free BBQ. All welcome.

Training on OD response and naloxone administration in French
Limited number of participants.

CK Drug Awareness Council Media Campaign for International Overdose Awareness Day.

August 31 is International Overdoes Awareness Day
Campaign length: August 24- Sept 3

*During this period there will be radio and social media messages

*Purple ribbons will be placed around the community in memory of those who have died or suffered injury from overdose. We are encouraging everyone to tie a purple ribbon to end the stigma around drug related deaths.

*Purple T-shirts to wear on August 31, are available- see previous post.

*August 31 Memorial Facebook Live- 11 am

Meet at the Cenotaph, Peaceful Protest March through the Platzl with a coffin, and back to the Cenotaph for moment of slience and a opportunity for people to speak.

Please wear a mask and follow physical distancing and COVID protocols

10.45am – Peaceful Protest March to City Hall from ANKORS
Events to follow in Rotary Park:
– Introductions and Opening Prayers from the Ktunaxa Nation
– BBQ, open mic and guest speakers
– activities including: naloxone training, FTIR drug testing, memorial wall
Evening Remembrance Vigil in Rotary Park in evening with lit candles and moment of silence.

We would like to host an Overdose Awareness Day the Stettler & District Family & Community Support Services office on August 31st, 2020. We are going to have information and education pamphlets. Onsite Naloxone training, Candle lighting, Survivors support group, and purple ribbons.

4th Annual International Overdose Awareness Day *Virtual* Week of Events

Monday August 31, 2020 @11-12pm–Online Opening Ceremonies

Wednesday September 2, 2020 @2-2:30pm—Online Methamphetamine 101 Information Webinar

Thursday September 3, 2020 @ 9-10:30am—Online Naloxone Training

Friday September 4, 2020 at 10-11am—Live Facebook Feed of Memorial Flower Planting

Other events include Free swag, snack bags and harm reduction supplies available, and overdose awareness garden memorial
Register for events and get more details at www.myhealthunit.ca/overdoseawareness or email harmreductionpillarcdsnb@outlook.com

Throughout August, leading up to International Overdose Awareness Day, August 31, the Mission Overdose Community Action Team (MOCAT) is coordinating a series of community art dialogues entitled“Masks We Wear”. Stigma masks the humanity of people who use substances and sways our current policy. Our communities are devastated by the ensuing loss of loved ones, and the loss of the potential of all the sons, daughters, mothers and fathers. The masks will be exhibited during the week of International Overdose Awareness Day – August 31, at businesses on First Avenue in Mission and then displayed in the Community Art Space at The Reach Gallery Museum as part of their fall exhibition. On August 31 community members are invited to take an “artwalk” from 3-7pm downtown. A memorial banner will be onsite for those that wish to add their loved ones name in remembrance.

The Kwantlen First Nation will lead us in a welcoming ceremony followed by drumming meant to support healing. The Salvation Army will provide packaged meals. Naloxone training will be provided. It will be time to connect in solidarity while being socially distanced.

New Westminster Overdose Memorial to commemorate the many lives that have been lost to the overdose crisis. Submissions of photos, art, and poetry have been assembled into a collage and will be on display at the Anvil Centre between August 31 and September 5.

The City of New Westminster will be lighting up City Hall in purple on August 30 – 31 to honour the many lives that have been lost to the overdose crisis.

In commemoration of International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, 2020, we are launching an education campaign during the month of August. We hope to reduce the stigma and prejudice associated with deaths by substance use, build awareness and educate the community about the impact it can have on individuals and families who are grieving, and promote access to supports.

Each week through the month of August, our education campaign will focus on various aspects of substance use and the grief associated with this type of death.

We will be discussing:

August 4-7: Stigma and the importance of language
August 10-14: Complicated grief and how it relates to deaths by substance use
August 17-21: Member stories and finding meaning
August 24-28: Resources, supports and International Overdose Awareness Day events

All of our campaign and discussion materials will be available through our social media channels (@BFOMR on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) and weekly emails through the month of August.

I will use social media to invite people from my community and surrounding areas (a 50 km circle) to post tributes of lost loved ones.
I will post facts to promote the event and awareness.
I will do a Facebook live or prerecorded video on August 31st to pay tribute to those recognized by loved ones.
Next year I hope to have a physical gathering.

Fête estivale extérieure sous la thématique de prévention des surdoses avec animation, musique, présentation du CSA, création collective, collations et breuvages, distribution de matériel stérile de consommation et de prévention ITSS, formation Naloxone et plus!

Hosted by WRSS Community Action Team in coordination with the City of White Rock. At sundown on August 31st we will have the lights at the White Rock Pier changed to purple to honor everyone impacted by the overdose crisis.

We will also have a booth set up beside the pier handing out harm reduction information and materials.

Hosted by the WRSS Community Action Team. We will be raising a purple flag at White Rock City Hall to honor everyone impacted by the overdose crisis. We all also have a display of crosses to honor those who have lost their life as a result of overdose.

(Covid /social distancing protocol)

A motorcade hosted by WRSS Community Action Team, the city of White Rock, and White Rock First Responders.

The group will meet and proceed from the White Rock Centennial Arena parking lot to City Hally.

(Covid /social distancing protocol)

1. West Pedestrian Walk way of the Burrard Street Bridge- To represent the number of people we in BC have lost in BC in the months of May, June and July, we will be attaching shoes to the walkway, along with tags where people can dedicate the shoes in memory of someone if they choose. Shoes go up on August 30 in the early am and will be taken down Sept 1. All shoes will be donated to various sites in the DTES.
2. Digital billboard on Pender and Abbott- ulready up and running, there is a digital billboard featuring the faces of loved ones lost to overdose. The billboard will run until Sept 7, 2020
3. So far Telus Science World, BC Place and Vancouver City Hall will light up in purple lights on the evening of August 31, 2020
4.. A memorial vigil will be livestreamed on Mom’s Stop the Harm public Face book site. Bonnie Henry will be one of the spekader

– Naloxone Training
– Overdose Education
– Mural Painting in Honour of Loved Ones

Join us this day to remember loved ones lost due to overdose, feel free to add your purple empty chair photos or just attend to support those who have lost. We want to end the stigma. This can happen to anyone. Lets change the future for those still suffering from addiction and youth at risk.

We will be hosting informational zoom sessions from Monday, August 24 to Friday, August 28 featuring presentations on naloxone training and harm reduction best practices, as well as information on grief support.

We will be hosting naloxone training throughout the entire week.
Monday – Blood Ties
Tuesday – during Drug User Group
Wednesday – TBD
Thursday – Fireweed Market
Friday – Whitehorse Emergency Shelter

National Overdose Awareness day is an eventheld every year to commemorate those who have passed due to addictions and those who suffer from addictions. It is an hour long ceremony with guest speakers discussing the challenges faced by those affected by addictions and a call out for broader support in terms of drug policy’s in our communities.

Hosting a public awareness campaign in community.

Gather signatures on petition, asking the Federal Government of Canada to appropriately respond to the Overdose Crisis.
Three asks:
1. Declare the current opioid overdose and fentanyl poisoning crisis a National Public Health Emergency under the Emergencies Act in order to manage and resource it with the aim to reduce and eliminate preventable deaths.
2. Reform current drug policy to decriminalize personal possession.
3. Create with urgency and immediacy a system to provide safe unadulterated access to substances so that people who use substances, experimentally, recreationally or chronically, are not at imminent risk of overdose due to a contaminated source.

There seems to be no need to raise awareness that overdoses happen – as we are in the midst of an overdose crisis. There is a need to raise awareness that lives do not need to be lost to overdose and there is much that can be done to prevent overdose.

Join us to remember and prevent.

COVID-19 precautions will be in place – physical distancing and masks encouraged, hand sanitizer and wipes will be available.

Greetings
Speakers including those with lived experience
Recognition of lives lost and of the hope that loss of more lives can be prevented
Naloxone training and kits available
Awareness tables
Resource bags (non-perishable food and personal items) available

There seems to be no need to raise awareness that overdoses happen – as we are in the midst of an overdose crisis. There is a need to raise awareness that live do not need to be lost to overdose and there is much that can be done to prevent overdose.

Join us to remember and to prevent.

COVID-19 precautions will be in place – physical distancing and masks encouraged, hand sanitizer and wipes will be available.

Greetings
Speakers including those with lived experience
Recognition of lives lost and of the hope that loss of more lives can be prevented
Naloxone training and kits available
Awareness tables
Resource bags (non-perishable food and personal items) available

The Medicine Hat Drug Coalition will be hosting a come and go vigil in downtown Medicine Hat. Join us from 5 – 9 pm on August 31. We will have our flags of hope on display as well as luminaries available for people to leave messages to loved ones. On display will be all the luminaries from past events as well. From August 28 until Sept 4 the Medicine Hat teepee will be lit up in purple lights as well to raise awareness about this day. This event is open to the public and we hope to see you there.

we rent the park downtown and host a memorial BBQ to honour those who have lost their lives to overdose. last year we had traditional dancers and drumming and a local rap artist to entertain while service providers showcased their services and we did naloxone training. This year is the same event but we are also hosting a drug users meeting on the same day so people with lived experience can share their experiences. We have lost many people in our community due to lack of services or lack of continuity in services and feel that a large call out for feed back is important to feed into our advocacy efforts.

Display Table providing awareness material about the mandate of the organization, awareness of the intention behind a harm reduction approach, information regarding priority populations vulnerable to mental health/addictions and injection drug use such as the LGBTQ community, people in conflict with the law, individuals who are homeless, etc.
Naloxone Program promoted and training and kits provided.

Due to Covid restrictions, our event will be low key this year.

We will still be honouring the lives lost and the ongoing struggle by offering an awareness event with naloxone training, candle light vigil, information and an ability to safely connect with others in our small community of Medicine Hat Alberta Canada.

Our city is home to the worlds largest teepee and it will be lit in purple for a week at the end of August.

I have made this small display hosting 48 hearts for the 48 souls no longer here but still loved and grieved deeply.

This year will be different..Because of Covid we are not gathering..I am creating a visual here in Powell River..Our City Hall will light up purple and will fly the flag at halfmast..im having a Purple IOAD flag made. we will ask businesses and residents to light up Purple for AUgust 31st..I will also be putting purple ribbons and faces on trees and poles on our busiest street as well as people displaying ribbons and faces at their own homes

CN Tower will be lit purple on August 31st and Mayor John Tory will present a proclamation for Overdose Awareness Day in Toronto

Due to COVID-19 there will be official public gathering, however The Falls will be lit up purple at 10:00pm on August 31st for a 15 minute period, in memory of those who have passed from an overdose. We invite friends and family to go down to the Falls to view the illumination, in socially distant groups.

Virtual candlelight memorial service in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day.

On-line Pledge Campaign to End Stigma – open to everyone, everywhere

For individuals and families impacted by substance use, stigma is an ever-present reality that results in discrimination, reluctance to access treatments and supports and contributes to overdoses. We can end stigma just through our language.

Words have power.

Consider the language you use when talking about someone who uses substances and use person-first and recovery-oriented language instead. Together, we can end the harm caused by stigmatizing language.

Join us in taking the pledge, then use the selfie cards to promote action and bring awareness.
www.addictionmatters.ca

We will be marching from our centre at 150 Bentinck Street in Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Wentworth Park. We will have indigenous drummers leading our march. During our event we will have many first voice speakers, drumming and singing, and reading of names of people who have passed due to the overdose crisis. We will follow the reading of names with a moment of silence and smudging.

This year due to Covid-19 we are building a Memorial Garden to all lost.
We have 100 hearts and we are collecting names to add, then place on the fence.
Building a rock monument with a water fountain and planted flowers so they grow year round and few other items.  Will do 2 Candle Light ups at 6 PM and 8 PM to give everyone a chance to visit. Can be seen from Milton Street.

Due to Covid 19 restrictions we will be unable to host our public event. However, our committee is committed to recognizing this important day and we have the following activities planned:
*August 31st – Facebook Live Candlelight Vigil “Words and Music of Remembrance”
*In the month leading up to August 31st – social media/on line petition calling for “Decriminalization”
*signage leading into the city acknowledging IOAD
*Display table set up at our main hospital with educational/resource information
*Moms Stop The Harm – “Tie A Purple Ribbon” Campaign promotion via social media

Dylan’s Hope Foundation will be hosting the 3rd Annual Overdose Awareness, Prevention & Remembrance event on Friday, August 28th, in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day.

It will be an evening of public awareness and education to help reduce the stigma of those who struggle with this health challenge.

It will also be an opportunity to gather for a continued call for action to address this crisis and a meaningful Vigil to honor and remember loved ones that we have lost.

Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Education, Awareness & Support
Free Naloxone Training & Kit Distribution
Flags of Hope
Candlelight Memorial Vigil
Light Tribute

FREE EVENT, Everyone Welcome

“We Fight for Those We Love and Lost”