In August, Evergreen Treatment Services and REACH hosted several events to honor International Overdose Awareness Day. Staff joined Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) and other community partners at Occidental Park, and ETS hosted our first annual South King County International Overdose Awareness gathering at Kent Lutheran Church. Our clinics in Seattle, South King County, and TIM (Treatment in Motion) vehicles also hosted overdose awareness day events throughout the week. Community members and staff came together to honor lives lost to overdose and call for compassionate response to overdose and expanded access to substance use treatments.
King County has made amazing progress in the implementation of programs to support people who use drugs. The new DESC ORCA center and Seattle’s Health 99 post overdose response team are two examples of this progress. However, when we forward, we often also step back. Throughout King County, there are increasingly punitive policies and ordinances being put into place that are driven by misinformation and stigma.
“Overdose deaths have increased in all regions of King County, but most dramatically in Seattle, Followed by South King County. In 2024, South King County overdoses accounted for 34.9% of all overdose deaths in the county” (King County Medical Examiner).
1st Annual South King County International Overdose Awareness Day
This year, we implemented our first annual South King County IOAD event in partnership with King County Public Health, Aileen’s, VOCAL-WA, and Health Point. Highlights of the event included a memorial wall, photo booth, anti-stigma education, and compassionate overdose response trainings. One person shared that they had lost 17 friends in one month. Many stated that they have lost count of how many loved ones they have lost to overdose.
Despite the increasingly high rate of overdose fatalities in South King County, treatment and support for those who use drugs in these areas is sparse. First responders outside of the city of Seattle are not equipped with the evidence-based tools to support someone post-overdose, such as buprenorphine induction or naloxone distribution. These are just some of the reasons why we chose to expand our advocacy outside of the city of Seattle.
DESC International Overdose Awareness Day at Occidental Park
ETS and REACH staff helped plan and participated in DESC’s IOAD event at Occidental Park. Other partners present included Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness, People’s Harm Reduction Alliance, POCAAN, and many other local organizations.
Highlights at this event included a memorial art installation, overdose response trainings with naloxone distribution, and a speakers’ section where ETS/REACH staff member Maggie Moen shared the following poem:
“Missing you is like standing at the edge of an ocean, the flow of the waves come from the tears I’ve cried. Knowing I can’t sail or swim to be with you, because the grief is the tsunami that has wiped the foundation that has sunk beneath my feet.
We lost, by what had to be an accident, we spoke about these things, we saw each other yesterday and had plans to meet the day after you left.
Others that had come to love and really care for you are left in shock, is your OD what really happened? Is this really real? You can’t be serious; it can’t be what they said!
I hope you didn’t suffer; I hope your death was quick, I hope you know we love you, even with the sometime struggles all of us had.
I keep a picture on my desk, I remember your smile, your laugh. That picture reminds me of why I fight, why the fight is real, I keep you close by, you help guide me when it’s hard to keep up.
It’s for people like you that so many of us keep going, we fight for your spirit, and fight for the so many others, their loved ones, their families. Please know that I am not mad you went out on an OD, I am angry that people selfishly deliver bumps of death, and they do it knowingly. I wish it didn’t exist, and I hate the disease, I know the need for it, I know it personally.
And I get those tears in my eyes each time I see your face, and though I’m still on the edge of the ocean, I tell myself that though you aren’t able to swim, I am one of the many that can join the relay to fight for an end.”
Accidental overdose fatalities are completely preventable, yet we continue to see an increase in deaths year after year. Overdose fatalities are driven by ongoing stigma, failed policies, and the war on drugs which has led to an increasingly toxic and unpredictable drug supply. Overdose negatively impacts all members of our communities: the pain and trauma ripple throughout, extending its reach for generations to come. One more life lost to overdose is one too many.
We extend our gratitude to all who joined us in honoring the lives of those who left us too soon. Collectively, we will continue to fight for drug policy reform, increased and equal access to evidence based treatments, and compassionate response to overdose and substance use.
