Cumberland Prevention Coalition will host its first Overdose Awareness Purple Gala Saturday to remember lives affected by overdose and encourage prevention.
Cumberland Prevention Coalition Program Coordinator Taelor Saunders said organizers designed the evening to serve several parts of the community.
“We wanted it to be more than just an event,” Saunders said. “It’s more about just the awareness of overdose and how that affects our county, but also just remembering people that have lost loved ones from overdose.”
The coalition will explain its work, highlight community partners and hear from people with personal experiences involving overdose. Speakers may include people who lost loved ones or survived overdoses themselves.
“We will be speaking a little bit on what the coalition is, what we do for the community,” Saunders said. “We’ll be highlighting some community partners and how they help us continue that work, and then we are going to hear from people in the community who have personal experiences with overdose, whether it be the loss of a loved one to overdose or personal overdose stories of themselves.”
Saunders said prevention includes helping families understand addiction and encouraging healthier coping mechanisms before a crisis develops.
“Because overdose actually starts way before somebody has an overdose,” Saunders related. “Just like prevention starts before a crisis, so it starts with healthy coping mechanisms, informing families on addiction and what that looks like. And so our goal is to really cut to the root of the problem, which is well before somebody ever gets to the point of an overdose.”
The event, called A Night of Hope, is intended to combine remembrance with recovery and community education. Organizers also want to reduce the stigma surrounding substance use and help residents understand how they can support people affected by addiction.
“Our goal is just obviously to prevent substance use, but we hope to reduce the stigma around people who are using substances,” Saunders said. “And to treat it just like any other illness, like we do with mental health, diabetes, and just let people in our community know how to help out with these things.”
The Purple Gala begins at 5 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at Junction 7-70, located at 2963 U.S. 70 East in Crossville.
