Remember. Respond. - An International Overdose Awareness Day Event

It rained on August 17th, and most days leading up to it. Real summer rain, the kind that would cancel most outdoor events. Two hundred neighbors came anyway.

Franklin County has made real progress on overdose deaths. Overall numbers dropped 30% from 2024 to 2025. But that progress is not shared equally. In 2024, Black male Franklin County residents died from overdose at 1.5x the rate of white male residents. Fentanyl, often mixed with cocaine or other substances, remains the primary driver of deaths. The people carrying the heaviest burden are the same people are often our most marginalized communities. Getting to them requires showing up where they are, with people they already know, in spaces that feel safe. Even in the rain.

That's the work. And on August 17th at Basecamp Recovery Center, that's what happened.

We are grateful to Fund the Climb and Basecamp for providing the space and helping recruit the recovery partners that made the day possible, and to Columbus Public Health for serving as our primary partner in overdose prevention throughout the entire Remember. Respond. series. Sean from CPH was on the ground, leading naloxone training and overdose response education alongside neighbors who came in out of the rain to learn something that could save a life.

Recovery programs, behavioral health providers, housing resources, the Franklin County JFS mobile unit, and Central Outreach's mobile HIV and STI testing unit all showed up. Street Med provided medical support to 12 neighbors. Three people left for treatment before the day was over. Our legal partners at the Ohio Office of the Public Defender met with 11 guests about their expungement options, with 5 completing applications. Fentanyl test strips were distributed throughout the event, made possible through support from the ADAMH Board of Franklin County.

Our volunteers staffed the Dignity Market stocked entirely with goods they collected, including clothing, hyigeine supplies, and shoes. One neighbor came to us that day with injuries to her feet from waterlogged shoes after recent rains. Vanessa was able to get her a pair of dry shoes on the spot. She later went to treatment.

At some point the rain stopped for a few minutes and Roger from Columbus Public Health started a healing drum circle.

EventsChristy Hayes