Centre declares September as National Recovery Month

BELLEFONTE -- Since 2013, more than 47,000 Pennsylvanians have tragically lost their lives to drug overdoses, according to statistics cited by Centre County Criminal Justice Planning Director Karri Hull. Of those, 177 were residents of Centre County, she said.

At their meeting this week, Centre County Commissioners declared Aug. 31, 2024, as Overdose Awareness Day and September 2024 as National Recovery Month in Centre County, highlighting the impact of the opioid crisis on the community and the resources dedicated to addressing it.

In an effort to spread awareness of the county's related programs, the commissioners and representatives from the Criminal Justice Planning Team used the proclamation as an opportunity to discuss the upcoming Candlelight Remembrance Ceremony, the HOPE Initiative, Naloxone distribution and medication collection boxes.

Ahead of Overdose Awareness Day on Saturday, the Centre County HOPE Initiative is hosting a Candlelight Remembrance Ceremony, this evening, to honor those lost to an overdose. Family and friends are invited to Bellefonte's Talleyrand Park at 6:30 p.m. to share personal stories and display photographs of their loved ones.

"We need to remember, these are our community members. These are someone's son or daughter, mother or father, husband or wife, and they just want to be remembered for the good things they did and not for their indiscretions," said Hull.

The ceremony will provide a space for people to grieve without stigma, surrounded by others who understand their experience.

"There is still a lot of stigma associated with addiction and opioid use and even harm reduction efforts. And those families, when they lose their loved one, even have stigma associated with trying to grieve that person because of their overdose," she said.

In their memory, the Centre County Courthouse will be illuminated purple, joining landmarks around the world lit up for International Overdose Awareness Day.

The Centre County Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative was established in May 2016 to eliminate substance abuse, drug overdoses and drug related deaths in Centre County.

Through outreach and education, members of the prevention, treatment and recovery community, Criminal Justice System agencies and members of the community impacted by addiction support recovery and treatment options for all members of the community.

At the remembrance ceremony there will be resource tables provided by AppleGate Recovery, Crossroads Counseling and State College Medical, some of the partners of the Criminal Justice Planning Team and Drug and Alcohol Office working tirelessly to support those with active and recovering addiction.

AppleGate Recovery, an opioid addiction treatment center located near Tractor Supply on the Benner Pike, will be distributing Naloxone - better known as Narcan - a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.

To distribute Naloxone, an organization must be officially recognized by the commonwealth. Hull noted that the Centre County Drug and Alcohol Office is set to receive this classification soon, which will enable them to distribute the life-saving drug more widely throughout the county.

Some county departments currently have the ability to distribute Naloxone. The Centre County Correctional Facility provides Naloxone to individuals exiting the facility, and the sheriff's office vehicles are equipped with the drug.

According to County Commissioner Mark Higgins, within weeks of the sheriff's office beginning to carry Naloxone, they successfully saved the life of someone overdosing in Bellefonte.

"(Naloxone) should be as common as first aid kits," said Commissioner Steven Dershem, who is deeply involved in the HOPE Initiative. "That's how we're going to beat this. Because you can't cure somebody that's dead."

While his words were direct, his message was clear: each overdose death represents an irreparable loss.

Through Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded grants, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has gathered both fatal and non-fatal overdose data over the past several years from various sources.

According to the research, "based on death record data, over half of drug overdose deaths occurred in the decedent's own home (56 percent), highlighting the importance of getting naloxone into the hands of community members, particularly friends and family of people who use opioids."

The prevalence of overdoses, particularly in the home, compounds the importance of programs like the county's medication collection boxes, which help prevent substance misuse, abuse and accidental poisoning by keeping unused, old or expired medication out of the wrong hands.

There are 17 collection boxes deployed around the county, primarily at local pharmacies and municipal police departments, which gather dozens of pounds of medications during each collection cycle.

"It is something everyone can do, to clean out their medicine cabinets when something is expired or not in need," said Hull.

You can find the location of your closest disposal box at www.centrecountypa.gov/2073/Medication-Collection-Boxes.

With an estimated 23 million people in recovery nationwide, according to a statistic provided by Commissioner Amber Concepcion, supporting drug addiction recovery has proven a key goal for the commissioners. In June, they backed two motions supporting funding for medication-assisted drug treatment for inmates at the Centre County Correctional Facility.

The Pa. Department of Corrections' Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program, described as, "a modern, innovative and successful way to treat substance use disorder" on the Department's website, is an evidence-based, long-term care strategy focusing on medication management and continued monitoring to treat incarcerated individuals with substance use disorder.

The program offers inmates Vivitrol (Naltrexone), a drug which blocks the euphoric and sedative effects of opioids like heroin and morphine by binding to and blocking opioid receptors with the ultimate goal of suppressing opioid cravings.

"Treatment is available and Medicated Assisted Treatment is evidence based and can save lives," Concepcion said. "There's no shame in going to get treatment. There's no shame in taking medication for this. We know it saves lives and keeps families together."

Centre County residents were encouraged to reach out to the County Drug and Alcohol department if they or someone they know is in need of assistance. Their daytime number is 814-355-6744 and the overnight emergency number is 1-800-643-5432.

"The sooner we start to think of addiction as a chronic disease, the better off we're going to be to try to help those (suffering)," said Hull. "Treatment is effective and recovery does work."