With overdose deaths continuing to impact families across Pennsylvania, the HOPE Initiative holds a Candlelight Remembrance Ceremony each year to mourn the lives lost to addiction, encourage recovery and bring attention to available county resources.

This year’s gathering Wednesday evening filled Bellefonte’s Talleyrand Park with survivors of addiction, grieving families, county officials and recovery professionals, many of whom shared personal experiences in a moment of solidarity and healing.

“This is an opportunity for us to recognize some of the loss in our community that often goes unnoticed,” said Commissioner Steve Dershem, who gave the evening’s opening remarks.

Dershem was joined by his fellow commissioners, who thanked the community for their support before turning the event over to the public to share the lessons they’ve learned through their personal experiences with addiction.

HUNTER SMITH/THE EXPRESS People are pictured gathering at the Centre Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.

One of those speakers was Joey Kustaborder, who is on his recovery journey.

“It’s a vicious cycle, but with the right people in your corner and solid connection — a purpose — you can turn your life around,” said Kustaborder, who is currently in the county’s treatment court program. “My life has completely changed since being in that program. I can’t tell you the amount of great things that have happened to me and in my life since getting sober.”

He said the help he’s received has allowed him to reconnect with his son.

“That situation only happened because I’m not drinking and using drugs anymore,” he said. “I’m able to be in my son’s life.”

But for many families, that chance at reconnection never comes. Ron Henry, one of those family members, gave a solemn tribute to his son who passed away in 2023.

HUNTER SMITH/THE EXPRESS The Centre County Commissioners, Amber Concepcion, Mark Higgins and Steve Dershem, are pictured at the Centre Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.

Choking back tears, he recalled that two years, two months and 27 days ago, as of Wednesday, his son’s mother received the call no parent ever wants — that their son, Elliott M. Henry, 33, a former LHU student, had died of a fentanyl overdose while in a recovery home.

“We were crushed. We are still beyond words,” Henry said. “Not only did he die, a piece of our heart was taken.”

At the time of his death, Elliott was pursuing a degree in engineering and working full-time for PennDOT. From the outside, Henry said, his son seemed to be doing well — a reminder that struggles with addiction and mental health are often hidden behind stigma and silence.

“He was fighting his addiction for years,” Henry said, “But at the time there was not a lot of help.”

Eventually, Elliott was arrested, and Centre County placed him in a treatment court program that had begun to make a difference.

“He said, ‘Mom, Dad, Centre County helped me,'” Henry recalled.

But despite the progress, his son wasn’t able to stay sober. When Elliott was trying to stay clean, Henry said, some nights he would hear an ambulance and just pray his son was all right.

“We struggled when he was struggling. It was so devastating as parents,” he said, adding that the pain made him question his faith.

Still, he urged the community to keep building on the progress that’s been made.

“I do think that Centre County is doing a lot for those that have addictions, mental illness and so forth, and we need to continue that,” said Henry “I do not wish for any parent, any husband, wife, mother, father, uncle or aunt, to go through what we go through every day.

He ended his remarks with gratitude for the community’s support.

“The support you give for each other, for us — the love you show — we really appreciate it,” Henry said. “We need to continue helping those with mental illness and addiction so that other families don’t have to go through what Vicky and I go through.”

That support was on display throughout the park, where addiction recovery professionals from AppleGate Recovery, North Central PA Recovery Hub and State College Medical staffed tables with resources like Narcan.

The ceremony concluded with the lighting of the remembrance candles, followed by a moment of silence and closing remarks from Commissioner Dershem.

Reiterating the point of importance of county resources, Commissioner Amber Concepcion said, “A big part of our mission through much of our human services is focusing on the wellness of people and families…We want to make sure we’re connecting them to the services they need, and that people know we provide counseling, mental health services and drug and alcohol addiction services, and that they can really be effective — that people really do turn their lives around when there is a support system both in county government and with the medical providers we work with.”

If you live in Centre County and are struggling with drug addiction, help is available.

For intensive help or if you’re unsure where to start, call the Centre County Drug and Alcohol Office at 814-355-6744. They are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. A case manager will discuss your options and arrange an assessment to determine the services that best meet your needs.

For emergency detox admissions in the evening and on weekends, please call Centre County CAN HELP at 800-643-5432.

For more information and additional resources, visit the Centre County Drug and Alcohol Office website at centrecountypa.gov/drugandalcohol. For information about the Centre County Heroin and Opioid, Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative, visit www.centrecountyhope.org.