By Chris Frost
EAGLE TIMES NEWS EDITOR
WINDSOR, Vt. — Annual Overdose Awareness Day honors those who lost addiction battles and to help family members move forward. The second annual event was held Thursday, Aug. 31, and attendees consoled each other while learning about available resources.
Windsor Select Board member and recovering addict Tera Howard, part of the Windsor Awareness Committee, helped organize the event with Heather Prebish and Mary McNaughton.
“In October, I’ll be clean for 16 years,” said Howard. “Four years ago, I lost my little brother to an overdose here in Windsor, and my life changed.”
Howard wanted to do something to help thwart addiction.
“I joined the Windsor Select Board, and that’s when I hooked up with McNaughton and Prebish,” Howard said. “We were able to organize and host our first Overdose Awareness Day, and we decided to make it an annual event because it’s something the community needs.”
The trio partners with Connecticut Valley Addiction Recovery to a monthly overdose awareness and grief group every fourth Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Windsor Welcome Center.
Rock Bottom
After years of struggling with a handful of hard drugs, Howard finally chose to permanently stop right before her 23rd birthday.
“Even when you’re at rock bottom at your lowest point and burned every bridge, there is always a way out,” she said. “There are so many agencies and resources that I didn’t know about until recently; there is a way out.”
Windsor County Sherriff Ryan Palmer said Howard’s personal growth is fantastic.
“She is an inspiration to others,” he said. “She got herself clean and has been an example to young people in the community.”
But the community cannot police its way out of addiction, he said.
“We have to look at the causation and how can we help and can be community problem solvers,” Palmer said. “You just can’t throw someone in jail because they have a bag of dope in their pocket. I told my people that we’re here to help.”
Elks Lodge 1665 Past Exalted Ruler Nate Wood manned the barbecue and cooked everyone hamburgers and hot dogs.
“We’re proud to be part of Overdose Awareness Day,” he said. “We started last year when Tera reached out to us, and we do this with open arms. The Elks have a drug awareness program we’re proud of.”
HIV/HCV Resource Center Community Volunteer Alastair Huntley discussed properly using Narcan to help someone who overdoses.
“We’re providing Narcan training and handing out fentanyl test strips,” he said. “This is beyond getting together for remembrance. It’s critical from a public health perspective.”
They want to make Narcan as common as having a defibrillation device used for people in cardiac distress.
“Having Narcan readily available is essential,” Huntley said. “The HIV/HCV Resource Center will happily supply people with Narcan.”
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.