Advocates are hoping to keep a spotlight on the issue now that Overdose Awareness Month is behind us. They gathered in Burlington, Vermont’s City Hall Park last week to remember and honor individuals who lost their lives to accidental overdoses.
The gathering marked International Overdose Awareness Day and was the third annual remembrance held in Burlington. After a moment of silence, speakers recalled friends and family who struggled with addiction.
Dawn Tatro lost her daughter Jenna to an overdose. She and her husband have since created Jenna’s Promise, a community center to help those struggling with substance use disorder.
“So many of us belong to a club we don’t want to belong to and never expected to belong to,” Tatro said. “I lost my daughter Jenna five years ago and it still feels like it was yesterday. We lost her to a prescription that was given to her in the ER. And for six years my husband and I tried to save her. I mean, we flew her and brought her anywhere and would do anything. It didn’t matter. Whatever we had to do to save her. But she would get caught back up in it over and over again. She was a good person.”
Alcohol and Drug Counselor and creator of Burlington’s Addiction Recovery Channel Ed Baker noted this year’s focus is on work that began in 2017 to pass legislation to establish the state’s first Overdose Prevention Center in Burlington.
“Finally in 2024, H.72 was passed by the Vermont House of Representatives and the Vermont Senate authorizing and funding the creation of Vermont’s first Overdose Prevention Center. A tri-partisan force that has assured an Overdose Prevention Center will find a home in Burlington, open its doors to our neighbors and family members at high risk for overdose death and begin to save lives,” Baker said.
Lead sponsor of the measure, Chittenden Progressive/Democrat Taylor Small said stigma is one of the biggest barriers that had prevented state approval for an Overdose Prevention Center.
“This legislation would not have come to fruition today if it was not for the strong advocacy of the people here in Burlington. The vulnerability and sharing what it meant to lose your loved ones and sharing what it would mean to have an Overdose Prevention Center and to save lives moving forward,” Small said. “What I really want to underscore is recognizing that overdose prevention centers are not going to solve all of the issues related to substance use and overdoses here in the state of Vermont. This is just a piece of the work because we still need to reduce barriers to treatment. We still need to reduce barriers to recovery. We still need to expand opportunities for harm reduction.”
Progressive Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak served in the Vermont Legislature before leading the state’s largest city. She was among the legislators who supported the Overdose Prevention Center bill and now as mayor says her administration is already taking the first steps to bring it to fruition.
“Overdose Awareness Day and this powerful annual event offers each of us an opportunity to reflect, to remember loved ones who have been lost to overdose and to honor their memory by committing ourselves to movements for change,” Mulvaney-Stanak said. “To end overdose, to challenge antiquated and harmful drug laws and to foster understanding, working towards a future where stigma is no longer a barrier to support, care and recovery. Action is needed. Lives will be saved when the doors open of an Overdose Prevention Center here in Burlington.”
Burlington’s Overdose Awareness Day was held during the Overdose Prevention Centers National Solidarity Week.
