Darien & The Opioid Crisis Event Set For May 15

From the Community Fund of Darien: Since 2012, opioid related overdose deaths in Connecticut have grown at four times the national average.[1] In the fall of 2017, the Community Fund of Darien, in conjunction with the First Selectman's Office, the Darien Health Department, and the Darien Police Department, elected to participate in a newly launched AmeriCorps program aimed at community outreach and education in the towns of Fairfield County around this epidemic.

This collaborative hired Susannah Lewis, MPH as the Americorps staff member to lead this initiative. She was tasked with compiling a Community Needs Assessment related to opioid use in town, coordinating trainings on pain management best-practices for prescribers, organizing Narcan trainings and providing community forums to inform Darien residents about how this crisis is impacting our community.

Darien’s Chief of Police, Ray Osborne commented, “From a law enforcement perspective, we realize that we cannot arrest our way out of the crisis of opioid addiction. Our goal is to help slow the wave of this epidemic and to work with the community to build partnerships like this so that we, as police officers, are using all the tools that we have to help save lives. This crisis has touched so many families in our area and we at the Darien Police Department would like to take this opportunity to work with The Community Fund and the Darien Health Department to come up with lasting solutions that promote health and safety.”

Our first community forum, titled “Darien and the Opioid Crisis” will be held on Tuesday May 15th, 7pm at the Darien Library. This event is co-sponsored by The Community Fund of Darien, the Darien Police Department, the Darien Health Department and Liberation Programs.

Susannah Lewis will present the findings from the Opioid Community Needs Assessment, Det. James Palmieri of the Darien Police Department will share the trends law enforcement is observing and David Knauf, Director of Health will discuss what needs to happen legislatively to slow this epidemic.

A special keynote address will be presented by Dr. Robert Newman, MD, MPH. For over 45 years, Dr. Newman has played a major role in planning and directing some of the largest addiction treatment programs in the world. He served as President and CEO of Continuum Health Partners, Inc., a 2.2 billion dollar hospital network in New York City. He will present a paradigm-shifting lecture on the science of opioid addiction and effective treatment.

For more information about this event, contact Emily Larkin, The Community Fund of Darien: Emily.Larkin@communityfunddarien.org; (203) 655-8775.

[1] Change the Script pamphlet, drugfreect.org

Image via Shutterstock.com, flyer image courtesy of the Community Fund of Darien