CLEVELAND — In 2022, at least 5,000 Ohioans lost their lives to an overdose. About 500 of those people were from Cuyahoga County who died from opioid overdoses.
A tangible reminder of the statistic was on display in the heart of Cleveland Thursday: 5,000 purple flags planted in Public Square.
“It’s just heartbreaking the reality of what this disease can do,” Jillian Stewart said.
Stewart is in long-term addiction recovery herself and was advocating for Stella Maris Thursday during the organization’s first “Waves of Awareness” event marking International Overdose Awareness Day.
“If I showed you a map of Cuyahoga County and addiction, and people have lost their lives to addiction, it’s across the county,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne.
He welcomed the first-time event to downtown Cleveland on Thursday. It kicked off at 11:30 a.m. with a slideshow, ringing of the bells at the Old Stone Church and a short program, followed by an entire day of entertainment and about 60 different organizations showcasing the resources available around Northeast Ohio.
“We want this event to grow over the years, but we want it to grow in a way where we’re actually beating addiction,” Ronayne said.
Many of the event’s booths were staffed by people in recovery and those who have lost loved ones to overdoses. Telitha Bivens Hammond falls into both of those categories.
“I came from a Catholic school, straight-A student, to hanging out and partying with the wrong people and eventually became addicted. I lost my kids, I went to jail, I became homeless,” she explained.
While she was losing her way with addiction, she was also losing people she loved.
“As a direct result of this disease, I lost my father, I lost my son-in-law, I lost my stepdad, and I lost my cousin,” she said.
Her father’s death was the impetus for seeking her own treatment for the disease of addiction.
“I never thought I’d have to live without my dad. And I don’t want my kids and grandkids to have to live without me,” she said.
Bivens Hammond is now a peer support specialist at University Hospitals with Thrive Peer Recovery Services, connecting patients struggling with substance abuse or those recovering from overdoses with treatment and recovery options.
She and others noted the “Waves of Awareness” event was not only an opportunity to honor lives lost but also to offer help and hope to people who need it.
“Reach out, try to get help. It’s worth it. It absolutely is worth it,” Stewart said. “Today, life couldn’t be more beautiful. All the opportunities that I have been given just from being able to do this program and being sober… it has completely changed my life.”
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
