As people with pink, blue and orange chalk on their hands walked away from the steps of Bangor City Hall on Monday, dozens of names dotted the stone stairs in remembrance.
The names, written by the roughly 40 attendees of an Overdose Awareness Day event, were of friends and family members who had died from overdosing.
The event, which was organized by Greater Bangor organizations including Needlepoint Sanctuary, the Mabel Wadsworth Center and Dignity First, included a rally in Pierce Park and a silent vigil outside city hall. Multiple speakers at the rally called for policy changes at every level of government to create more rehabilitation programs, overdose prevention centers and syringe service programs.
Willie Hurley, the executive director of Needlepoint Sanctuary, called on the Bangor City Council to implement similar reforms while pointing out that the council was in the middle of censuring Council Member Joe Leonard.
“And while we’re silently [outside City Hall], I want you to think about an oddity that’s happening right now in the city council chambers, where they’re currently censuring Joseph Leonard instead of addressing many of the needs of this community, getting caught up in senseless drama.”
“That’s what our elected officials are doing in this brand new city hall that they spent over a million dollars renovating,” Hurley said.
The Bangor Daily News previously reported that the renovations cost about $10 million.
Amy Clark, board chair for the advocacy group Maine Recovery Action Project and for the Bangor Area Recovery Network, spoke out against the opioid settlement funds advisory committee saying the committee should be looking to use the opioid settlement funds for Bangor and Penobscot County by investing it in community programs.
The Bangor City Council approved the use of $550,000 in funds earlier this month, about half of what the city was allotted, to create an intensive case management program for people who have contracted HIV during the ongoing outbreak in Penobscot County, according to previous BDN reporting.
“The opioid settlement funds, both here in the city of Bangor and our county, are blood money. These dollars came from the suffering and death of our loved ones. They are not for pet projects or to sit unused. They must be invested back into the front line programs that are proven to save lives. We need to be loud to show up to make sure that committees, counselors and commissioners hear us clearly. These funds must be used to prevent more deaths, not wasted on half measures,” Clark said.
The most recent Maine monthly overdose report showed that fatal overdoses were lower for January through May this year compared with the same period last year. In June, the month of the report, there were 44 suspected and confirmed fatal overdoses, two more than the June of last year.
Clark said part of the reason why overdose deaths have declined in recent years, is because of local organizations fighting for a strong Good Samaritan law that was passed in 2022.
Overdose deaths decreased by 19 percent from 2023 to 2024, according to the CDC.
The event was one of two this month. The next event will be held on Aug. 31, International Overdose Awareness Day.
That day will be a community day of remembrance, held at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor located at 120 Park St. The event will start at 3 p.m. when people can co-create memorial art until 6 p.m. There will also be a memorial ceremony at 6:30 p.m.
