Westfield Public Health Director Debra Mulvenna and Substance Abuse Outreach Coordinator Kimberly Slade light memorial candles.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Lederer
WESTFIELD — The city’s annual International Overdose Awareness Day vigil took place on Aug. 29 in Park Square. Attendees agreed the event was necessary for spreading awareness about a problem that isn’t getting any better.
“We need a lot of community awareness,” said Samantha Gulsvig, of the Mental Health Association and the Westfield-West Springfield Elks Lodge. “I’ve lost about four of my clients in the past four years.”
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Lederer
State Rep. Kelly Pease (R-Westfield) agreed.
“It’s a good thing to recognize those we lost,” he said. “It isn’t getting any better.”
In Westfield, there have been 26 overdoses so far this year, said Kimberly Slade, the city’s substance abuse outreach coordinator. At last year’s vigil, speakers said there had been 24 to date.
Westfield Police Capt. Eric Hall said that the problem isn’t getting better, but the availability of Narcan and other resources is preventing deaths. He said without events like the vigil, it won’t get better at all.
Nonetheless, state Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield), co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, said that overdoses statewide are decreasing. According to a June 2024 report from the state Department of Public Health data, there were 2,125 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths in 2023. That’s a 10% decrease from the 2,357 in 2022.
Velis, who has been in recovery for seven and a half years, said since the last vigil, five people in his phone contacts list have died from overdoses. He said the hardest and most courageous words a person could say are “I need help.” When people say that, “we need to be there as a system,” he said.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Lederer
He also said the stigma around substance use needs to be eliminated.
“People feel if they raise their hand, there’s a sense of shame. We need to let them know it’s OK,” he said.
Gulsvig also called for ending the stigma that she said otherizes users. She noted substance abuse can affect anyone of any class, race and gender.
The state House and Senate have passed bills addressing substance use this year, and are currently crafting a compromise in conference committee that both chambers can support. Both versions have measures to increase the availability of Narcan and to establish a licensing process for recovery coaches. The bills also require insurance companies to cover the costs of a coach without prior authorization. Velis thinks it’s likely to become law.
Pease said the country needs to shut down its southern border to stop the smuggling of fentanyl.
On a local level, Slade said addressing opioids means addressing the social determinants of health, such as a person’s sense of community, housing options, education, transportation availability, and employment opportunities.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Lederer
For Westfield, she said there’s too little low-threshold housing. As well, the city could use a peer recovery center, a medical facility run by people who’ve experienced addiction which would give users resources to recover and a sense of community. She said she would bring these concerns to the Board of Health at a meeting this month.
Speakers at the vigil, like Coralee Chase, whose son died of a fentanyl overdose, said attendees needed to get loud.
“Someone needs to start the movement about doing something about this,” she said. “Silence kills. Being quiet kills. It kills too many people. We’re losing too many people.”
Chase encouraged the audience to speak up and “say their names,” referring to the names of their loved ones who’ve suffered from substance abuse.
“Say their names all the time, even if your friends get sick of hearing it. Too bad! They can go away,” she said.
She also told attendees to try and be of service to the community. Chase is starting her own support group for parents, hopefully later this year, she said, motivated by her struggles to find one in Western Massachusetts after her son died.
Towards the end of her speech, she said to “hug those people who you know are so broken inside.” And any people who are in her situation, she said, need to be kind and gentle to themselves.
