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Knowing that September would be recognized as National Recovery Month, many individuals took time to recognize Overdose Awareness Day. 

Winchester would be a community among them. 

Many – including Winchester Mayor JoEllen Reed and Clark County Judge-Executive Les Yates – gathered outside of the Clark County Courthouse on Friday, August 30, to recognize the date with a proclamation being read. 

Although the date officially falls on August 31st, doing so one day beforehand kept the recognition from interfering with the Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival. 

“Overdose Awareness Day is actually an international event that is intended to bring awareness to drug overdose,” said Lindsay Horseman, the director of Recovery Community Services at Recovery Community Center.

Each year, Overdose Awareness Day is recognized with a theme. 

For 2024, the theme of “Together We Can” holds a special meaning. 

“The idea is that communities coming together can end overdose. Overdose death is preventable,” Horseman added. 

A large part of Recovery Community Service’s mission is providing and connecting others with treatment sources. 

Thanks in part to partnerships with groups such as the Clark County Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (ASAP), it continues to do so. 

“We have now an outdoor naloxone distribution box that will be available to the public 24/7 for people to come and receive Narcan,”  Horseman said. “There’s a printed training as well as [a] QR code for video training on the box.” 

Thus, individuals can be ready to administer Narcan – which works to reverse an opioid overdose – on an as-needed basis. 

In 2023, Clark County reported 168 cases of overdose, with 26 unfortunately resulting in deaths. 

While the number is higher than desired, Horseman noted that it has been diminished since 2022, when 205 overdoses were reported. 

With the efforts of RCC and others, she is hoping that numbers continue to drop. 

“[In] 2024, to date, it looks like we’re going to have a lower number of total [overdoses] and lower number of deaths if those trends hold,” Horseman said. “It really is a collective effort for that number to go down.” 

Continuing their drive to success, National Recovery Month will include recurring events – such as the 9th Annual Rally4Recovery. 

This year’s event takes place at College Park on Friday, September 20, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 

The Clark County Courthouse will also be illuminated in purple lights, as such color typically recognizes Overdose Awareness Day, 

As expected, efforts won’t be stopping after September. 

“[We’re] looking forward to all of those fall and winter [events] we have coming up”, Horseman said.