After a fatal heroin overdose occurred at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth last January, Callie Nunez helped jumpstart a campus chapter of a Young People in Recovery (YPR), a national organization focused on substance abuse recovery.

“There’s a need,” said Nunez, the chapter’s president. “We thought it’d be important to have a resource here for students that need it.”

Nunez’s fight against addiction doesn’t stem from her on-campus experiences, however.

“My brother is in recovery. He’ll be five years sober on February 23,” she said without hesitation. “He was using substances for as long as I can remember. It really affected our family.”

Nunez said that as she got older, she wanted to shed light on addiction as a “family disease,” fight stigma, and provide educational resources.

Nunez’s efforts on campus have already resulted in expansion. Last semester, no more than four people ever attended a meeting, she said. However, at the September 15 meeting — the first meeting of the 2016-2017 academic year — 14 people attended, she said. On September 19, the group received official recognition as a club from the university.

“I don’t want to see people struggling anymore. People our age are dying when it’s preventable,” she said.

YPR is hosting a walk for awareness on September 25, 12-3 p.m., on the UMass Dartmouth outdoor track.

“The goal of the [Steps Towards Recovery] walk is to bring people together for support and to raise awareness around the opioid epidemic with the focus on breaking the stigma and showing recovery is possible,” said Nunez. “It’s not going away unless we start stepping up,” she added.

There will be more than 25 community recovery resources, yoga, narcan training, a drug take back kiosk, raffles with great prizes, a live band, guest speakers, a moment of silence/remembrance, two recovery clothing and accessory vendors, and a day full of walking and community bonding, alongside educational information. Parking will be in lot 7.

Alongside the walk, YPR is focused on training all senior nursing students in Narcan administration by the end of 2016, but there will be opportunities for other majors to learn how to administer the opioid overdose reversal drug. Nunez said there are two Narcan trainings currently scheduled for all students this semester.

Following her May 2017 graduation, Nunez hopes to stay involved as the chapter leader in order to expand it into the Dartmouth community. Community-wide, there are more resources, she said, noting that the UMass chapter is the only campus-oriented chapter in the country. Nunez has already connected with and works alongside Dartmouth’s Youth Advocate, police department, and Board of Health.

For more information, visit facebook.com/YPRDARTMOUTHMA.