Fairfield County ADAMH Board, Overdose Awareness Event

From 6:30–8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, the Fairfield County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board and the Fairfield County Opiate Task Force will hold a free public event in the Fountain Square area of downtown Lancaster to honor Ohio Overdose Awareness Day.

Fairfield County ADAMH Board Prevention Coordinator Toni Ashton, MSEd, LSW, OCPC, says, “During the event, we will celebrate recovery and acknowledge those we have lost in Fairfield County by surrounding the fountain with luminaries to represent each individual whose cause of death has been overdose from 2018–2020.”

The event agenda is tentatively as follows:

· 6:30–7:30 p.m.: At their booths, event collaborators, including mental health and substance use disorder agencies and organizations, will distribute prevention, treatment and recovery community resources, and Project F.O.R.T. (Fairfield County Overdose Response Team) will provide free Narcan with training.

· 7:30–8 p.m.: The official program consists of a welcome, Overdose Awareness Day proclamation reading, moment of silence observance, guest speakers and a closing.

· 8–8:30 p.m.: Prevention, treatment and recovery vendor booths will reopen until event’s end.

“We have seen an increase in the number of overdoses and particularly the numbers of overdose deaths in Fairfield County over the past three years,” says Project F.O.R.T. Director Scott Duff. “We are happy to partner with ADAMH and the Opiate Task Force to get more Narcan and other local resources out into our community.”

At the event and all its locations, New Horizons Mental Health Services, an ADAMH Network of Care Agency, is accepting donations of self-care items, such as hygiene products, coloring books, and journals, for families who have lost loved ones to overdoses and individuals in shelters.

The event is free thanks to Grant No. GA1RH33529 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an operating division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

On June 8, 2021, during the quarterly RecoveryOhio Advisory Council meeting, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 30 into law that designates Aug. 31 as Ohio Overdose Awareness Day. On Aug. 31, a state flag will be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sundown in remembrance of Ohioans lost to overdoses. For more information, visit www.recoveryohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/recovery/resources/all-resources/ab-oh-od-awareness-day.

The Fairfield County Opiate Task Force is charged with the responsibility of coordinating efforts related to prevention/education, treatment, recovery resources, and data collection.

The Fairfield County ADAMH Board is responsible for the planning, funding and monitoring of mental health, addiction and recovery services in Fairfield County. ADAMH promotes wellness and recovery from mental health and substance use disorders by providing a continuum of care consisting of prevention, recovery and community support services for those affected by substance use and/or mental health disorders in Fairfield County. For more information, visit www.fairfieldadamh.org.