WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — As many people spent the long weekend marking the unofficial end of summer, others gathered to remember those lost to overdose and celebrate survivors in Ohio's ongoing fight against addiction.
At the Fire Arts Association in Willoughby, music filled the air during a different kind of gathering for Ohio's Overdose Awareness Day.
"Typically we do something that's a very somber event," Kim Fraser, executive director at the Lake County ADAMHS Board, said. "This year, we decided to do something different."
"I think more people have been impacted by overdose than people are willing to talk about," Ann Marie Raddell, director of creative arts therapies at the Fine Arts Association, said.
The event brought together survivors like Destiny Arnold, who has been sober for seven months after struggling with addiction since she was 16.
"When I first started using, it was hard," Arnold said. "There wasn't as many resources as there is now."
The latest statewide data from 2023 shows a 9% decline in overdose deaths.
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"It's because we have more tools in our toolbelt, more people are talking about the disease of addiction, and more people are getting connected to services," Fraser added.
Those services are making a difference for people like Christina Johnson, who has been sober for four months.
"I knew if I stayed out there I would die," Johnson said. "They have so many different vending machines where you can get the NARCAN kit."
While the 9% decrease represents progress, advocates say more work remains.
Brevin Bryant, whose best friend Caley Koppler died from an overdose in 2023, continues fighting to find and charge those responsible for her death.
"It hits a little harder cause the day is a little more meaningful to all of us," Bryant said. "We just want people to be aware and you don't know what you're getting from anybody."
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In July, President Trump signed the HALT Fentanyl Act, establishing a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for those convicted of trafficking fentanyl.
"We will not rest until we have ended the drug overdose epidemic and it's been getting a little bit better but it's horrible, it's horrible we're gonna end it once and for all," the president said.
Back in Willoughby, organizers hope events like these bring addiction out of the shadows and into spaces where help is available.
"We know the moment we stop having those conversations, those numbers are going to start going up again – that's why it's so important to continue the conversations," Fraser said.
