Bill Scannell, co-founder of HOPES Forever, to share his personal experience

When: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Parkway United Methodist Church, 158 Blue Hills Parkway, Milton

The Milton Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition announces its upcoming event “Opioid Crisis, Our Community”. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 10 at 7:00 p.m. at The Parkway United Methodist Church in Milton, hosted by Reverend Johnson and her congregation.

The event will feature Bill Scannell, co-founder of HOPES Forever, Help Our Planet End Stigma, sharing his personal experience of loss, healing and hope after his son Emmet died from his substance use disorder last year. Nicole Garrity, Community Prevention Specialist from Manet Community Health Center will also present an Opioid Overdose Prevention training, and will demonstrate the use of Nalaxone (Narcan). Nalaxone is a non-narcotic nasal spray that can reverse an overdose while it’s happening, and is important for everyone to be familiar with. She will be available to speak with anyone after the meeting who wants to have more information. Medication lock -boxes will also be available due to a generous subsidy of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Milton.

Police Chief John King and Fallon Ambulance representative Christine Hamilton will update us on fatal and non-fatal overdose and related data here in Milton, and a brief video explaining the ‘Good Samaritan’ law will be shown. All of this is to build collective awareness about the problem in our community, and how we can respond collectively, appropriately and compassionately to the growing epidemic of opioid addictions.

The meeting will also feature exciting announcements unfolding behind the scenes since the last gathering of over 60 community members in December, including the federal ‘Drug Free Communities’ application which has been submitted in the hopes of achieving long term sustainability of coalition activities.

The meeting is open to the public and community members are encouraged and welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served. The Parkway United Methodist Church is located at 158 Blue Hills Parkway – diagonally across from The Tucker Elementary School.

For more information about this event, email [email protected]. To find out more about the coalition and resources to address substance misuse and addictions, visit us at www.milton-coalition.org.