Arlington To Host Overdose Awareness Day Vigil, Opioid Town Forum

ARLINGTON, MA — The Arlington Department of Health and Human Services has announced it will be hosting a candlelight vigil later this month in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day.

The event will take place from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 31, on the lawn in front of Calvary Church, 300 Massachusetts Ave.

"We hope to see the candlelight vigil bring our community together, so we can honor and remember those who we have lost and know that we are not alone in this fight," said Anna Martin, who recently has been hired as the Prevention Services Manager.

According to Arlington officials, the Prevention Services Division of the Department of Health and Human Services was formed to build on a long history of addiction recovery work in the community.

In addition to the vigil, Arlington will be the site of a September Town Forum dedicated to the impact of opioids and other drugs locally, statewide and nationwide.

That event is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 7:30 pm. on Sept. 28 at Arlington Town Hall, located at 730 Massachusetts Ave.

The forum will feature Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan speaking about the opioid issue from a statewide perspective, while Martin and Christine Bongiorno, director of the Arlington Department of Health and Human Services, will address the issue from a local perspective.

According to organizers, the forum also will include an overview of the town's funding plan for the $1.2 million in opioid settlements Arlington is scheduled to receive from various opioid producers and distributors in the coming years.

More information about the vigil, forum, or about how to access Narcan, fentanyl test strips, or xylazine — materials that help prevent opioid overdoses —is available by contacting Martin at [email protected].

According to officials, those overdose-prevention materials are available in person at the Health Department, 27 Maple St. Floor 2, during business hours.