BALTIMORE — Thursday night, West Baltimore neighbors gathered for an open discussion on overdoses, a week after 27 people were hospitalized in a mass overdose incident in Penn North.
WATCH: Mayor's Office holds overdose response listening session in West Baltimore
"It was disheartening," said community member Donald Young.
He told WMAR 2 News he's all too familiar with substance use disorders.
"I lost my mother in 2016 to a fentanyl overdose, and I suffered myself with substance use disorder. I got clean in 2017."
Thursday the Mayor's Office held the second of four listening sessions on the city's strategic plan to tackle the epidemic.
The plan focuses on five priorities: addressing disparities, improving care connections, confronting stigmas, increasing service access, and enhancing recovery services.
"And I think we saw that last week, how everyone came out to support Penn North. So there are parts of the strategy that were at play, but I think overall the bigger message is that we were all there together," said Sara Whaley, Executive Director of Overdose Response for the Mayor's Office.
While the meeting was scheduled before the mass overdose, Young said it was needed to address certain shortcomings.
"If we gave the same amount energy on preventative measures like educating youth and educating communities on the risks of substance abuse at an early age because it was cool to do in the 80s."
Many others in the room shared the same thoughts, saying we need to change how we talk to youth about substance use disorders and eliminate the stigma.
Mayor Brandon Scott agrees wholeheartedly.
"When you hear that coming from Baltimoreans, and for me to hear that come from another young Black man who I know grew up around the same time as me, it warmed my heart because you cannot help someone if you don't see them as human, if you don't see them as equal to you," Scott said.
Neighbor Terrell Carpenter grew up around drugs and crime with few resources.
"I've sold drugs in Baltimore, I've been shot in Baltimore, I've been stabbed in Baltimore, I grew up without a mom in my house," Carpenter said.
But he believes recovery starts by looking to the future.
"If you don't have faith, then you don't believe anything can be done. But we have to get more involved. We can't just talk and don't do things; that's one of the reasons why I'm here."
There's another listening session scheduled for next Wednesday, the 23rd, at Pimlico Elementary and Middle.
