ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — When asked what gives her hope, advocate Barbara Allen says it’s how far they’ve come.
“We have made great progress,” she said. “I’ve lost my son, two brothers and a niece to this disease, and when my son died 22 years ago, quite frankly, I thought life was just over.”
Watch as one woman describes a nonprofit group in honor of her son
But finding purpose through her pain, Allen has turned to advocacy, establishing the nonprofit James’s Place in honor of her son and founding the first International Overdose Awareness Day event in Howard County.
The event is held every year on August 31 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, which has become a welcoming space for everyone.
This year’s theme: “One Big Family Driven By Hope.”
It’s not only a time to remember those lost to substance use disorder, but also to celebrate those who are in active recovery. Groups from both the Howard House and the Highland House, two recovery treatment centers, helped to set up and joined the vigil.
“I’ve never really been part of something like a community like this and it’s just a good feeling to be able to help others when sometimes in the past I wasn’t able to get that help,” Zach English said, who’s marked his third month sober living at the Howard House.
The event featured several community resources, including from the Howard County Health Department, and groups working to bring legislative change like the Maryland Alliance for Sensible Drug Policy.
"It's super important to me to make sure that people with lived experience have a voice and what's going on in Maryland at the state level because a lot of times people's voices get lost and we wanna make sure that we're heard," MASDP volunteer Corey Bryce said.
There was also a live demonstration of life-saving efforts including the use of Naxalone, or Narcan, by members of Howard County Fire and Rescue.
Some of those watching, had been on the other side themselves. They told WMAR-2 News it was an eye-opening experience.
Lastly, a candlelight vigil while people took turns saying the names of loved ones they lost. Some lists, longer than others.
“As long as we say their names they're alive and they're part of our hope and our future,” Allen said.
Since 2020 overdoses have been on the decline, which Allen says isn’t just due to the prevalence of life-saving Nalaxone, but also life-saving knowledge that she has been working hard to bring over the last decade-plus.
From August 2024 to July 2025, there have been 1,338 overdose deaths in Maryland and 23 in Howard County.
