One of 17 banners, each with the photos of 150 victims of opioid addiction are posted in front of the Pennsylvania Capitol during an Opioid awareness event in Harrisburg, Pa., Aug. 31, 2022. Mark Pynes | pennlive.comMark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

Even Miss Pennsylvania has been hurt by opioid addiction, losing an older brother she remembers as “one of the best people in my life.”

“People are usually shocked to find that out. I know a lot of you probably aren’t, because you know all too well that addiction knows no boundaries. It can happen to absolutely anyone,” Alysa Bainbridge told a crowd of hundreds on the steps of the state Capitol on Wednesday.”

Bainbridge said eliminating stigma surrounding addiction and mental illness, and assuring people who are struggling of their human value, is her main social issue as Miss Pennsylvania, which is part of the Miss American pageant.

She spoke at a four-hour overdose awareness and memorial event that drew people from all over Pennsylvania, with most of them having lost a child or other loved one to a drug overdose.

The overdose crisis has returned with a vengeance to Pennsylvania, causing more than 5,300 fatal overdoses in the 12 months leading up to March, according to federal data. That’s similar to Pennsylvania’s previous peak in 2017, which prompted the state to declare an emergency and begin a far-ranging response that had significantly cut into the toll.

But much of that progress has been lost, with experts attributing it to factors including the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting isolation and disruptions to treatment, and a frightening proliferation of fentanyl, a cheap, synthetic opioid that’s many times stronger than heroin.

Fentanyl, long added to heroin, is now added to many other drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, and commonly pressed into counterfeit versions of brand-name pills.

“Drug dealers are putting fentanyl into everything and fentanyl is murder. There is no safe amount,” said Shelia Kemmer of Clarion County, whose son died of an overdose in June.

Yet a significant positive development was also on display Wednesday: the overdose resurgence is fueling a counter-reaction of parents and others who vow not to let themselves or anyone grieve in isolation and shame.

The event was organized by PA Team Sharing, a chapter of a national organization of parents who lost a child to overdose.

A major purpose was to celebrate the memories and positive traits of those lost to overdose, and to refuse to allow them to be defined by their substance use disorder.

That was evidenced by the vast display of personal items laid out on the front steps of the Capitol, including photos, shoes, hats, loving messages and mementos related to sports and other accomplishments.

Elsewhere were a dozen or more huge, framed montages showing faces of thousands of Pennsylvanians lost to overdoses.

Some in the audience lost two children to addition. Several noted their child died while in a recovery facility, including unregulated private facilities.

Debbie Howland said her daughter became part of a “patient brokering” scheme which Howland said deliberately left clients addicted in order to continue collecting payment.

“All the while I was thinking my Ava was getting the care and treatment she so desperately needed but that was not the case. After $1.5 million in insurance claims over an 18-month period my child was dead,” Howland said.

Howland said she’s involved in ongoing, badly-needed efforts to get the government to crack down on such facilities.

The event also featured focus on “harm reduction” strategies to keep people alive until they are ready to enter recovery, and promises that the group will continue to fight for better prevention and treatment.

People were offered free supplies of naloxone, an overdose reversal drug. They could sign up to donate resources to help people in recovery.

Jennifer Smith, Pennsylvania’s secretary of drug and alcohol programs, told the gathering the state is “more committed than ever” to things including better prevention, expanding access to treatment, providing naloxone, addressing a shortage of treatment professionals and eliminating stigma associated with addiction.

Perhaps more than anything, the people who gathered Wednesday vowed to find and support each other and use their strength in numbers to prevent others from knowing their pain.

“I loved Ava and I love all of your children. They brought us together,” Howland said.

Information about Team Sharing, the organization of parents, can be found here.

People in need of help for addiction can reach the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs at 1-800-662-4357.

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