Gloucester Township Memorial Will Honor Overdose Victims

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Each year, Camden County holds a special vigil to honor those who have been lost to opioid abuse. Officials are hoping to have a new memorial in place in time for that event.

A new memorial at Timber Creek Park in Gloucester Township will honor victims of overdose and addiction from Camden County, officials announced Thursday morning. The Camden County Freeholder Board passed a resolution in February establishing the memorial as one way to defeat the stigma surrounding addiction, officials said.

The memorial will feature a large purple ribbon, the universal symbol of opioid addiction awareness, surrounded by a spiraling, sloped wall, with benches nearby for seated reflection.

There will be additional parking areas near the memorial to help visitors access the site in the 128-acre park.

In total, the memorial and related park additions will cost approximately $437,000. Funding will come from the Camden County Parks Department.

“We want to offer a place for reflection to the families who live in, or are visiting, Camden County that lost a loved one to opioid use disorder, we want them to feel like their lives have been honored properly,” Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. said. “If this memorial can start a conversation between two people about opioid use or about the stigma surrounding this disease, then that alone makes the entire project worth it. We want to show people that they’re not alone and that our community is facing this epidemic together.”

Officials hope the memorial is ready for their annual candlelight vigil on Overdose Awareness Day, which is Aug. 31. Construction will begin before the end of March. Work will be handled by Command Company Inc., based out of Egg Harbor City.

The vigil includes a slideshow of photos submitted by families in the community. The goal is to highlight the horrible toll of overdose deaths in America, while also giving families an opportunity to celebrate the lives of those they've lost.

“Our communities, our schools, our families have all been impacted by this disease, and for a long time, it was taboo to talk about it; addiction was something society wanted to ignore,” Cappelli said. “We can’t undo years of overdoses, but we can prevent the next decade from looking like the one that just ended. Our hope is that this memorial addresses both our past and our future in a meaningful way as we further combat this epidemic.”

The park will also opportunities for families to honor their loved ones by placing their names on bricks throughout the park, according to County Spokesman Dan Keashen.

In 2019, a joint Rutgers-Eagleton/Farleigh Dickinson University poll found that roughly a quarter of New Jersey residents or their family members had taken a prescription opioid painkiller in the previous 12 months. Seven in 10 respondents rated prescription drug use as a serious problem in their community. Since 2013, there have been more than 1,600 suspected overdose deaths in Camden County alone, according to data collected by the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General. Last year, there were 3,200 overdoses in Camden County, 329 of which were fatal.

“We’ve lost a person a day to addiction,” Keashen said. “ … This is an acknowledgment of the death and destruction this public health crisis has brought,” Keashen said. “We’re hoping to provide solace to some of the families who have lost loved ones.”

Last week, Camden County officials introduced a pilot program to study the use of Fentanyl testing strips by anyone who is battling addiction.

Officials also recently announced Camden County would receive $190,039 to expand its Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program to combat opioid abuse. Read more here: Camden County's Drug Treatment Program For Prisoners To Expand

Other initiatives Camden County has in place to combat the opioid epidemic include Project SAVE, an early intervention program at the municipal court level; putting naloxone in the hands of all first responders; and working with medical providers to limit opioid prescriptions have played a vital role in curbing the public health crisis.