ROANOKE, Va. – Overdose Awareness Day will be observed on Saturday, and people gathered Thursday at the Taubman Museum of Art to commemorate the occasion and share addiction resources.
“I used to think that because I used heroin I lost dignity, or I wasn’t valuable, and that isn’t true,” Bailey Medeiros said. “Heroin didn’t take any of that away from me.”
Bailey Medeiros is five years in recovery. The day, August 11, 2019, is marked on a calendar she carries around her neck.
“I truly am one of the lucky ones,” Medeiros said. “There’s no good reason I survived and others don’t.”
Now, Medeiros serves as the Director of Roanoke Valley Collective Response hoping to help others like herself. The group helps to connect people struggling with addiction to a variety of resources in the area.
Last year, in Roanoke, 113 lives were lost to overdose.
“That number is 113 too big,” Medeiros said.
LewisGale Behavioral Health is one local organization serving patients struggling with addiction.
“We do work closely with their families to make sure that they are getting whatever next step they need,” Brandi Gray, Director of Clinical and Outpatient Services at LewisGale said. “We also have an outpatient facility where we work for aftercare to continue their sobriety.”
To get connected to addiction recovery resources, you can visit either Roanoke Valley Collective Response’s site or LewisGale’s site.