Dartmouth holds annual Overdose Awareness Day

The town of Dartmouth held its fourth annual Overdose Awareness Day on Thursday, Aug. 27, giving those suffering from addictions and their families a place to connect. 

Nationally, Overdose Awareness Day has been an event for 25 years. 

Since the last Overdose Awareness Day, 25 individuals in Dartmouth have been affected by overdoses. Deloris Joseph, the chair of DAART, rang a bell in their honor.

“We carry these lives and their stories with us,” said Rachel Dzialo, the Substance Use Coordinator. “We continue to remember, support one another and work toward a community where every life is valued and every opportunity to feel is met with compassion.”

In the past, the event has been held in front of Town Hall. Dzialo wanted a more private environment for the guests, so this year’s event was hosted at the Council on Aging and included other organizations such as the Board of Health and the Dartmouth Service Community Outreach Team. 

The Overdose Awareness Day began with a prayer, in memory for those who have been lost. After this, those in attendance signed posters with the names of those they lost, with notes to them. Guests split into support groups, one for those in recovery and one for loved ones of someone with addiction. 

Guests also had the opportunity to get Naloxone training and learn how to recognize and overdose and how to administer the medicine. 

She hopes that events like this will help educate the community and give people the chance to find resources. 

“We want that involvement from the community and that participation from the community,” said Dzialo, “It helps break down the barriers and the stigma.”

She added, “There’s still conversations that need to be had, and stigma that needs to be broken down.”

In Dartmouth, Select Board Chair Heidi Silva-Brooks started both the event and the Dartmouth Advocates for Addiction, Recovery and Treatment.

“If we could cure addiction by loving someone, it would be done,” said Silva-Brooks. 

This all started when the town started receiving funds from the Opioid Settlement Fund, which towns received from opioid manufacturers and individuals as compensation for their roles in the opioid epidemic. 

Dartmouth will receive funds until 2038. The town has used these funds to create opportunities for those affected by addition. Dzialo was hired as the Substance Use Coordinator, where she finds ways to use the funds to help the community. These include connecting people with support groups and placing Naloxone around town, a medicine that can counter an opioid overdose and planning the Awareness Day.

She also implemented vape detectors and the Wayfinder program that promotes healthy choices in the high school, and after-school programs in the elementary school. Early after-school programs have shown to prevent addiction later in life. 

The fund covered 90% of her salary when she was first hired in 2025 with the final 10% being funded by the town. The town will cover 20% this year, 30% the next and so on until the funds are finished. 

As the funds are primarily for preventing opioid overdoses and finding aid for those with addictions and their families, the town plans to expand to help other addictions once the funds are done in 2039, according to Silva-Brooks. 

Silva-Brooks was personally affected by addiction in her life. She knows someone who overdosed from cocaine laced with fentanyl, and while he was not her son she was the one to receive the call about his death. She is now in a support group for parents or loved ones of people with addictions. 

“I have a ton of friends, but there was a ton of friends who don’t know what it;s like to have an addict in the house,” said Silva-Brooks, “You go to a support group and there are several around and you’re talking to others who get it.”

Dzialo and the Dartmouth Community Media are working on a long-term archive of stories, shared by community members. While it was not shown this Overdose Awareness Day, Dzialo stated that it will probably be shown in the future. 

“You are not alone and there are people out there that understand what you’re going through,” said Dzialo, “Just reach out for help if you need it.”