Breaking stigma in Marshall County on Overdose Awareness Day
PLYMOUTH, Ind. - So far in 2023, there have been 15 overdose deaths in Marshall County, according to Alicia Wells, event coordinator for Allendale Treatment and Fort Wayne Recovery.
“Celebrating people for who they are, and not how they died is one of the most important things we can do in the recovery community,” Wells said.
That means 15 more families like that of Andrea Peterson.
“My son, Andrew Petersen, was poisoned by fentanyl one week before Christmas last year,” Peterson said. “Mostly, I want you to know he was a sweet and loving, kind young man who loved his friends and family fiercely.
She says she misses his laugh, huge smile and singing in the car together.
People placed candles on the steps of the Marshall County Courthouse in honor of ones they’ve lost to overdoses.
For the first time, Marshall County held a public commemoration of International Overdose Awareness Day.
“When we’re talking about shattering stigma, it’s really important to come out, downtown, and say, ‘Here we are.’ And what better way than to bring it to the courthouse?” said Wells.
Shattering stigma—that's the central goal for organizers like Wells and Viki Brown, co-founder and executive director of Dustin’s Place.
“The number of individuals we are losing due to overdose is increasing every year,” she said.
“We’ve got children dying of drug overdose. We’ve got moms and dads, brothers and sisters,” Brown continued. “It isn’t just those who typically are stigmatized by death, but it is those who are on school teams. It is those who are sitting in the office at work during the day and then coming home in the evening.”
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