Addiction Recovery Channel: International Overdose Awareness Day 2026

[music] Hi, folks. We're going to go ahead and get started. So, let's go ahead and take a [music] seat. >> I am always amazed at how amazing the weather cooperates with us every year. >> I can't think of a more beautiful evening and it's so nice to be able to pay tribute and honor our loved ones. Yeah, >> I look at these faces and you know the kids, they come out once in a while for events, but there's nothing more healing for me than spending an hour or two with my my son. Uh it just fills my soul and um this year I'm extremely honored that my younger son is in attendance and um it just it's like I have them both and [laughter] [gasps] those moments as we know as they grow are are few and far between. So thanks for being here bud. Um I'm going to keep my remarks pretty short. I want to turn the uh mic over to Ed Baker who has some words for us as well as he's going to talk about some of our uh loved ones that we're commemorating tonight. Hey, thank you, Kim. Thank you, everyone, for coming out this evening. It's just uh wonderful to be together. I'm Ed Baker. I'm a person in long-term recovery from a severe and persistent chaotic drug use disorder. I've lived unhoused. I've used very dangerous drugs in a very harmful way. >> I've barely survived. And by chance, by chance, I was surrounded by a group of loving people in Lola County about 42 years ago who were themselves in recovery from severe alcohol use disorder, from severe drug use disorder. And those folks helped me to change to to change my own life, to save my own life. I will be indebted to them forever and I will never turn my back on that population and I know I share this with you. I'm also a person with over 40 years of professional experience in what I've come to call the addiction health field. It's very close to my heart. The work that this field does is very close to my heart and I know I know I share that with you. We gather this evening to recognize our lost loved ones, our one and only ones, and to express and share our deepest sorrow. We are here together to renew our unfl flagging commitment to continue our efforts to shape our health care system into a system that is finally compassionate. We call on our leaders. We call on our policy makers to fully embrace people who use drugs while they are using drugs. Yes. While they are using drugs, we together recognize the absolute importance of continuing to craft an environment that is colored by compassion rather than stigma, by safety rather than punishment. We stand in solidarity with our beautiful, our courageous team sharing Vermont families recognizing their having lost loved ones to substance use passing. Also, we do not accept the present state of affairs here in Vermont regarding our health care systems inadequate response to drug overdose. And with all due respect, with all due respect, we call for the immediate opening of Burlington's overdose prevention center. >> [applause] >> Thank you. I'd like now to read you an excerpt from our first union's declaration in support of Burlington's Overdose Prevention Center drafted in April of uh 2025. I'll read you an excerpt. It's from the UYU right here. The Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington. We, the board of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, enthusiastically endorse the establishment of an overdose prevention center in Burlington, Vermont, and urge those responsible to make haste in doing so. The establishment of an overdose prevention center is an asset to our home, our neighbors, ourselves, and our shared community. The establishment of such an asset aligns with our core values, declaring that we are all sacred beings regardless of our relationship to addiction and recovery. That the provision of this kind of intervention is medically sound, evidence-based, and is a form of beneficial adaptation to a changing world. and that the access to safety, treatment, and recovery that an overdose prevention center offers affirms the interdependent nature of our existence. The interdependent nature of our existence and that the health of our community is strengthened by the presence of an overdose prevention center in our midst. We'll now join each other in our moment of shared silence to honor and remember our loved ones lost to substance use passing. But first, please say their names with me. It's for these loved family members and many hundreds, yes, thousands of others lost in Vermont that we will join in silence. But first, please say their names with me. Sean, >> Jenna, >> Maddie, >> Peter, >> Sasha, >> Shana, >> Aaron, >> Dan, >> Christina, >> Dustin, >> Tommy, >> Grace, >> Richard, >> Alistair, Little Jillian. >> Little Jillian. >> And now, please join me for a moment of silence. [bell] Heat. [bell] [music] Heat. [bell] Heat. Heat. [music] [bell] Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. And now we'll hear from Sarah George. Thank you, Sarah, so much for being here. Thank you for your words tonight, but most of all, thank you for your work. >> [applause] >> Good evening everybody. My name is Sarah George. I'm the Chittning County States Attorney. And when I was thinking about what I wanted to say tonight, I looked back to my prior um speeches that I've made at this event in years past, specifically in 2022. I believe in Montpillar and and 2023 here in Burlington. And I was really angered at how little has changed. I was angered by the idea of coming here tonight and making the same demands that we have been making at this event every year for years. and telling the same story about how when I first became a deputy states attorney in 2011, um responding to my very first overdose death. Um and meeting with that family and hearing their grief and hearing their anger and hearing about what their 24year-old daughter had gone through before she died. and the stories over the last 16 plus years of being a prosecutor and the hundreds more of those calls I've received and the conversations with families about the same struggles. Young and old men, women, trans men, trans women, some with criminal histories, some with none. Some with families who had access to good care and some who had none. And some who lost their loved one having no idea they were struggling. And others who had watched their loved one struggle for years and just get strangled by every inch of red tape and stigma and compassion fatigue that our state has had to offer. Nearly 16 years as a prosecutor, hundreds of Verters lost. And each loss not a failure of the person who we lost, but a failure of policies, a failure of systems that have been designed to keep people down. Those policies can be changed. elected officials have the responsibility, the ability to change these policies. And if you hear anyone, whether they be an elected official or not, talking about public safety and the utmost importance of public safety, please, I beg you to remind them that harm reduction is public safety. [applause] And if they're not at events like this to look at the photos and to talk to the family members who have lost a loved one or if they're publicly saying that we're doing the best we can or that we're doing all we can. They're gaslighting you. And I beg of you to demand a better answer. Demand actual solutions because it is truly in our ability. But calling for more police before you're calling for more treatment options is not public safety. Dr. Conger recently wrote an excellent piece um I believe in BT Digger where he said that public drug use isn't rising because more people are using drugs. It is rising because they have nowhere left to go. Calling for less public drug use while also simultaneously opposing a safe consumption space is actually advocating for more unsafe public consumption spaces in our community. Out of sight is not a policy and it is not a solution. Every single person who is struggling with addiction deserves to be seen because when we see them, we find solutions and we we attempt to heal them. We have a lot of work to do. And I'm so grateful for all of the people in our community that are doing this incredibly difficult work every day with people in our community helping us to get to a place where we don't have to come to this event every year and demand the same things. Helping us get to a place where we can truly come to this event and remember those that we lost back in the day when our systems were failing us. back in the day when our policies were failing us, back when our policies were killing people, but that it was truly that we talk about it truly historically. A distant memory that we no longer have to endure and we can make that a reality. We have to demand better from our systems. We have to demand better from our elected officials. And I I know that there are a lot of people here that are doing that all the time. It's a lot of the reason why you all are here. Um so I would encourage you all to leave here and make sure that you are doing this work outside of this event. Honoring the people in these photographs beyond today. honoring their memory every day by making sure that there aren't more photographs here next year when we all come back to this space. Thank you so much. [applause] Next, we'd like to hear from Maddiey's mom, the lovely Moren Lindner. >> [applause] >> Hi there. I'm here by default. Maddie was uh Mattie was supposed to speak to you tonight. I guess I'm streaming her. And um yeah, I wasn't going to come tonight because I buried her out of this church and Abby and I were talking about that. But she was a force. And my daughter Kate is a force. She's writing a book about Maddiey's life about the addiction. Um, and Kate was supposed to be here, as I said. And I'll tell you, if it's not one thing, it's your mother, right? So, when I was on vacation at the Northeast Kingdom uh a couple of weeks ago with my cousins who are from there and my mother was from there, one of 11 kids up in a dirt farm in the hills and we're all survivors in some ways. And Kate writes about this in her book like uh the the force of trauma and the legacy burdens that can go forward in our lives because of it. And while I was up there, I got a text from a friend in Burlington who said that um uh Mattiey's obituary was just quoted on a NPR program called 1A. They did a program on obituaries that impacted people in their lives and they used it as an example. So, one of the things about Maddie was she was a tadada kind of a gal. And in her life, she maybe didn't make it, but she certainly made it in her death. The obituary that Kate wrote for her um went viral and with it went all privacy for us as a family which was quite something to give up. But it went viral and it went all over the world. We were hearing from people all over the world. There was a BBC camera team that was trying to get into view the church to film the memorial service, which we didn't let happen. But one of the things that the woman who is the host of 1A did was she quoted from Maddiey's obituary as having impacted her when she read it. It impacted many many people. We heard from people all over the world and as I said um it just put off what was coming um for a bit but it did put it off. The one part that this woman did not speak to was the last part of Maddie's obituary and I'd like to read it to you now. Um after uh describing Maddie as a person, um Kate spoke to um people who were struggling with addiction. And I'm quoting here. If you yourself are struggling from addiction, know that every breath is a fresh start. Know that hundreds of thousands of families who have lost someone to this disease are praying and rooting for you. Know that we believe with all our hearts that you can and will make it. It is never never too late. If you are reading this with judgment, educate yourself about this disease because that is what it is. It is not a choice or a weakness. And chances are very good that someone you know is struggling with it and that that person needs and deserves your empathy and your support. If you work in one of the many institutions through which addicts often pass, rehabs, hospitals, jails, courts, and treat them with the compassion and respect that they deserve. Thank you. If instead you see a junkie or a thief or liar in front of you rather than a human being in need of help, consider a new profession. We take comfort in knowing that Maddie is surrounded by light, free from the struggle that haunted her. We would give anything for her to experience that freedom in this lifetime. Our grief over losing her is infinite. And now so is she. Thank you. [applause] And now we'll hear from Dakota. Thank you. All right, let's make sure I can use this microphone right. I never know quite how to do it after all these years. Um, hi, my name's Dakota Roberts. I um run the drug checking program for the um AIDS Project of Southern Vermont. Um, I've also used opiates off and on for going on 16 years or so. And during that time, I've lost a lot of friends and family, all in situations that very easily could have been prevented had they known exactly what it was that they were doing. Um throughout the last three years or so um throughout all the testing that we've done, we've seen just I've seen remarkable changes and people from where they started to where they wound up once they were given autonomy back and the choice to take control of their own health. Get out of your book. Um, we've had, sorry, we've had a very large reduction in the amount of people injecting, switching over to safer practices. Um, and this is largely in part to just the constant education that comes with coming and getting their supply tested. We all know that the drug supply has always been a rapidly changing, extremely volatile market because of how unregulated it is and the effects that that has on all of us and all of the people that we love. Uh the danger, the violence that can come along with it. Just in the last year, for example, we've seen due to prohibition, we've seen this very large increase in a shift from the supply being contaminated with xyloine to being heavily contaminated with um metatomdine, which is putting a whole new set of challenges and issues for all of us to face together. But the one thread that's been consistent throughout this entire thing is just the amazing like endurance and compassion and wherewithal in the personalities of everybody that I see on a daily basis. People that at the start had zero interest in what we were doing. Why would I already know that it's it's cracked. Why would I need to know it's anything else to now? They know more things about chemistry and their drug supply than I do. And in the end, they take that information. Every single person takes that information and uses it to make more informed, smarter decisions. Um, and the impact that has had on not just myself, but all of the people who are in and out of our doors and the families of those people is monumental. Um, yeah. I And I got to reiterate again that when you give people the ability to care about themselves and to take their own fate and health and lives into their own hands, they take off running and they never disappoint you in it. Thank you. [applause] Thank you, Dakota. Next, we'd like to hear from Jess Kirby, who's been a constant advocate and an amazing friend, and I can't wait to hear what she has to say. [applause] Too short again. Okay. Uh, hi everyone. Um, please bear with me. I forgot my speech at home. Uh, wrote a new one and then forgot the end of it on the printer as I was flying out the door to come here. So, u my, uh, ending may not be too pretty. But, um, and I also am a really nervous public speaker, but um, so thanks Kim. Um, so my name's Jess Kirby. I am the OPC director at Vermont for Criminal Justice Reform. I'm a person with lived experience with opioid use disorder. Um, and I'm in long-term recovery. Uh, like so many of the people that we've lost to overdoses, I've experienced overdose myself, um, and trauma and homelessness and the harm of being involved in the criminal justice system. And I've felt and even still today, you know, I experienced a lot of stigma in my life being so open and um you know, so I've experienced a lot of shame like so many people and regret and and defeat and hopelessness that so many people that are struggling are, you know, feeling and living with every day. Um I know what it feels like to feel like you have nobody um because you've burned all your bridges. um and to feel like you can't see a way out. I've um had a lot of dirty looks and a lot of judgment and you know, you can feel that really easily and from like 10 miles away. [snorts] Um and you know, that's something that's been really hard lately. we've kind of lost a lot of ground and people are really um you know struggling more than ever and the community is struggling with um feeling empathy for people more than ever. Um and I just know like so personally how those like dirty looks that people get and the judgment that people feel and the barriers that are really too many and really insurmountable for a lot of people. um you know the barriers to getting treatment and housing and almost any need met is what's really truly keeping people stuck in cycles that are putting their safety and lives at risk. Um like a lot of the people I work with today when I was struggling I was not connected with like anyone I was really disconnected from my family. I you know was afraid to go around them because I didn't want to make them sad and you know make my mom cry and make them worry about me and have them ask me questions. I didn't have service providers or counselors or recovery coaches because you know most of those things were just too difficult for me to access. Um and um a lot of those things are also based in uh commitment to like that it's based in like your desire to want to stop use right then and um you know like it does for most people the desire to stop using really comes and goes. you know, I was sad and depressed and alone and scared and and using drugs was the only thing that was making me feel better sometimes. Um, and I was really scared to fail because like all the efforts that I had made in the past felt like they had made things worse and took more out of me and made it harder to try next time. And that's what I see, you know, people are up against, you know, now in maybe an even bigger way. Um, I had, um, you know, missed one too many appointments, um, said the wrong thing, gotten the wrong time, you know, been turned away, um, forgotten to do my monthly check-in, you know, after, you know, a year of waiting on the list for treatment. Um, gotten kicked off that list. I had, you know, had too many people whispering about me and been turned away from too many services, you know, because people felt like I wasn't, you know, ready. Um, and all of it was really keeping me stuck and and really paralyzed for moving forward. Um, and building up the like stamina to try again. Um, it's really hard to to describe to people how hard it is to live with a substance use disorder. Um, how hard it is to really get treatment. We have a perception that's really easy and it is not. It takes days and weeks and months and lots of times of being turned away and and a lot to build yourself up to try again because of a past bad experience. Um and you know this is really why we need harm reduction which makes me so sad that you know term is like getting some sort of rap as you know um you know enabling a drug use or something and it's not it's exactly what people need and really what I needed um you know their harm reduction providers are you know the people that are that that people who are struggling are most likely to work with and you know when there's all these barriers and all this shame and all these things to overcome with people. Like the one thing that we need to do and can easily do is just keep giving people opportunities to build relationships with people who care about them and people who don't push them away and judge them if they aren't ready to stop use that day or if they were yesterday and today my priority is different. My bag was stolen and I'm just not on that today, you know, and that's, you know, like completely understandable and part of it. But um you know for me I would not be here today if it wasn't for harm reduction for syringe exchange um for someone you guys might know Tom Dalton. you know, going into a strange exchange and like, you know, meeting Tom, he was the first person that really treated me, like a person that mattered as much as everyone else did and, you know, who cared about how I was and like didn't focus only on my use and, you know, he earned my trust and was probably the only person that really had my trust. Um, and even if I didn't see him for a long time, I always knew that, you know, the door was open there and if I wanted, you know, when I wanted to access treatment, if I ever did that, he would be there to help me. It was just like a non-negotiable that I knew and that gave me like some like anchor, you know, to just know that something someone was there, you know, and he people don't understand like, you know, they think you just need to pressure treatment down people's throat and all this stuff, but it doesn't work like that, you know. You really just need to build people's trust, be there over time, let people know the door is open and help them, you know, walk through it and again and again, you know, if you need to. But, you know, he Tom never pressured me, you know, which is exactly why I kept coming back. I knew that he was there no matter how long it had been. and and um and he was who I went to see when things were the hardest and you know when I was really the most broken down and when I finally like mustered the like stuff inside myself to try again and you know he helped me in the moment you know get treatment it's like I had tried 10 20 30 times it takes a lot to to try again and you know he helped me do that and um you know he helped me with all the bumps along the way like the stuff that comes up the missing in the clinic for being one minute late. You know, the um you know, your car is broken down. You know, the not having a car and missing the bus. Um you know, you losing your take-home models because someone stole them and you can't bring yourself to explain. You know, it's just so many things come up for people and you need people to help you get through those bumps. And that's, you know, what people like Tom and, you know, hopefully me now, you know, um do for people. But, you know, it's like he also, you know, cheered me on, encouraged me to follow my dreams of being, you know, a social worker and then, you know, took a chance on me to let me help other people too, you know, and so it's just being the real deal. And it's like what harm reduction is not just about like giving people a syringe. It's being with people through all of those things. encouraging through school, you know, answering your phone call when stuff comes up. being willing to give you an internship and let you volunteer, you know, being there to just greet you with a smile and have the same person after years and when people want to come back and tell you about their day or about what went wrong that could be destabilizing and and throwing people off again, you know, like that is all of the stuff that harm reduction is that we don't even, you know, talk about, but it is, you know, and if I had not, you know, like set foot in a syringe exchange, which also happened through somebody else that Tom had impacted in that same way that brought me and gave me, you know, the the the trust to be willing to go there and then I pass that on to other people, you know, and um so I just really wanted to like share with people kind of those things that don't always get said about, you know, harm reduction and syringe exchange and what's so important about it. Um and I just I don't know where I would be today if I if I hadn't, you know, made it in there. Um [snorts] but uh you know this is where I lost the second part of my um speech but you know I mostly just wanted to say that in that you know where we're today where we are today is feeling really scary. you know, we keep hearing about overdoses being down, but there's, you know, such a really like sad, you know, sentiment about people who are struggling and a major blaming and a, you know, um, villainizing of, you know, providers that are working with people who who are, you know, working with people who are struggling the most and keeping that door open, which is what we need more than ever right now. And um you know we've lost a lot of ground in a really short time but you know we are not in a time where we need to like rest and say we've done a great job and overdoses are down. That is so dependent on the drug supply and can change anytime. You know on Friday um somebody came running to our office and just like in the window motioned like for Narcan. So, I just like ripped Nerkin off the wall, went running out, you know, to respond to this person and um, you know, gave them CPR and and Nan and was really scared, you know, like we always are that they're not going to [screaming] make it and that we're going to be there when they pass away. And, um, he did end up [screaming] being okay. But um when the EMTs came, they told us that it kind of took them a little while because they had responded to six overdoses in the past hour and that they had responded to 18 that day. And you know, so it just shows you how you can read in the paper that overdoses are down, but like it just can change any day. And you know, we need to be, you know, um like you know, doing so much more than we are. A lot of people are still dying and I just keep hearing like overdoses are down. Overdoses are down. Like no, we need more Naria. We need more doors to treatment. We need lower barriers to treatment. We need less stringent hours. We need not days and weeks, you know, of waiting to get into treatment and multiple phone calls and a year of trying to get to the methodone clinic because the intakes happen so early. And you know, um, and we need an an OPC. We need safe place where people can use and connect to all the things that I was talking about that harm reduction are, you know, and I just really think also what we really need is for people to treat people well, you know, like smiling at people, offering to help, you know, um, and supporting like providers who are doing this work, supporting people who are really struggling. Um, we need people to be telling our city councilors and our decision makers how much we need an OPC, how much that will help and just keep moving that momentum forward. Um, and you know, like I said, I lost my ending. So, please bear with me, [laughter] but you know, I just really wanted to tell you guys like what harm reduction meant for me, what I know it means for other people, and how much we need to keep like pushing for more of that. It's it's really, you know, there's so many big things we can't solve right away, like housing and, you know, a treatment system that's really broken and not working well for people, but, you know, we we really need to keep pushing for, you know, solutions that work, what we know, evidence tells us work works. And, um, you know, to to keep being there for people in their hardest moments and help, you know, harm reduction to be able to expand, not retreat. >> [snorts] >> So, I told you I didn't have a good ending, but thank you guys for listening. [applause] [applause] >> So, thank you, Jess. You know, I just want to I want to say a couple of things now that um right right now in Vermont, we have the legislation. The legislation was passed. It was vetoed. The veto was overturned. It's now law that an overdose prevention center will open in Burlington. We have the funds. The opioid settlement advisory committee allocated funds for the overdose prevention center. The funds came from uh a national class action suit, the Sackler family, opioid distributors and manufacturers, not taxpayer dollars. We have the law. We have the funds. The Department of Health has issued guidelines. We have the guidelines. The Department of Health has entered into a contract with the city of Burlington. The city of Burlington has entered into a contract with Vermonters for criminal justice reform. We have everything in place. We have all the pieces of the puzzle in place. We have a population in Burlington that is dying frequently of drug overdose. They've been pled and they are willing and motivated to use an overdose prevention center. You just heard Jessica Kirby. I've known Jessica for maybe 10 years now. Uh if there is anyone that understands people with addiction and harm reduction, you heard her. It's Jessica Kirby. Jessica Kirby will be the executive director of Burlington's first overdose prevention center. >> [applause] >> and she deserves to be and we deserve her. So, we're going to close the first half of our gathering. Um, I just want, you know, I want you to take advantage of Ben and Jerry's. Ben and Jerry's has been good enough to donate ice cream to us, you know, socialize a little bit and um have a great time together and then we'll we'll we'll we'll enjoy our second half together. Thank you. [applause] >> Stephanie Capesi is going to play some uh music for us. She's gonna play a few tunes. I know Stephanie since uh around 2012. Stephanie was the executive director of the um North Vermont North Central Vermont Recovery Center. So Stephanie is here to play music for us. Please enjoy Stephanie's music. Thank you. >> I'm a fan. >> Okay. This song is called Where Do You Sleep? And it is a really personal story for me. I think you'll understand what's what it's about pretty quickly. I guess that's [music] all I'm going to [singing] say right now. Today I [singing] was driving down the road. Then I [music] saw you there holding up your [singing] cardboard side over your head. I [music] couldn't tell [singing] what your sign said for the rain was coming down. But I can see your life in her battle. And the last I came to tell what kind of desperation brings that [music and singing] kind of fight. I can see you in the dear time. [music] But I wonder [singing] where do you sleep by? [music] >> I know when you were a child, [singing and music] you thought everything would be okay. You had a good day [music] [singing] and a warm bed, a lot of love along the way. This [music and singing] life can throw us a half of a sh and I'm [singing and music] sure I don't even know the half of [music] it. What kind of desperation [singing] brings that kind of fight? [music] I can see you in my [singing] dear time. But I wonder [music] where I drew you sleep. [music] You still got that old [singing] backpack that I gave you last summer [music] when you [singing] stayed with me until we couldn't take each [music] other. But I want you to know [singing] that you matter. You matter [music] to me. [music] >> [music] >> What kind of desperation [singing] brings that kind of cry? I can see you [singing] in the dead time, but I wonder [music] where do you sleep at night? I can see you in the [singing and music] daytime, but I wonder where do you [music and singing] sleep at night? >> Where do you sleep at night? [singing] [music] >> Thank you. [laughter] Thank you very much. Um, let's [music] see. Just trying to decide how sad to go. Well, this is another seven song [music] and then then we're going to pick it up a little bit. Let me see where we go here. [music] I'm sitting against this [singing] wall again, holding [music] my head, and I am wondering if I'll [singing] ever get back through to you. [music] There's a chain around [music] your neck. All these years holding up a candle [singing and music] through my fears. I will slow dance with another [music] sleepless night. You say I know [singing] nothing about you, [music] but if I've learned anything [singing] at all, [music] I'm your mama. You're my child. God [music and singing] damn this wall. These muddy waters of addiction [music] they [singing] drag you down that road again. All I [singing] can do [music] is watch you walk away. Some people they will [music and singing] judge you and I know they judge me too. [music] Saying [singing] why would you ever choose to live your life this [singing] way. [music] You say I know nothing about it. But if I [music] ever anything at all [singing] your mama, [music] you're my child. [singing] [music] This one makes you [singing] turn away from me. And this one [singing and music] says you don't want my company. >> [music] >> in the [singing] bottles and the pills in the isolation. [music] If I could, I would tear [music] down this [singing] wall. [music] But I don't give up hope for you, God. I hope [singing] I [music] never do. I am right here on the other side of this world. [music] I might [singing] know nothing about you, but if I had learned [music] anything at [singing] all, I'm your [singing] mama. You're my child. [music] God damn this one. [music] I'm [singing] your mama. You're my child. God damn this [music] wall. [singing] [music] This wall, that song, this wall, >> as you might understand, was really this wall between us and our loved ones often. And that was me at one time. Um and this wall between our loved ones and us when the unfortunate impact of substance abuse [music] creates a wall that um is so very often impenetrable but not always that if there's anything I believe in that it's there's always hope while [music] we're still breathing. There's hope for us to help and there's hope for [music] people that can't help all of us. And so let me [music] see. This song is called [singing] Extraordinary and [music] it's actually to remind us all that [music] we're extraordinary and I think every one of you is extraordinary. [music] She was just a child quiet meek and a mild [music and singing] and invisible sitting on the front steps drawing [music and singing] a picture of song she saw in a magazine. [music] She hears [singing] the sounds and the whispers of songs blowing through the [music] trees. The words [singing] in her head telling lies so loudly it's deafening. [music] Oh [singing] Mary girl, [music] I know [singing] that you'll see that you are actually [music] extraordinary. [singing] [music] When a girl is growing up, smoking, [singing] drinking, drugs, [music] she's giving away her body. [music] Where she marries a young man, tries [singing] hard to raise three children. so badly. [singing and music] I didn't think she was [music] [singing] inside. how they learn very well without a faking girl. [music] >> I see the [singing] irony and you are actually [music] extraordinary. [music] Well, she spends a lot of years learning about [singing and music] the fears of the people around her. [music] And she takes a [singing] long ride, searching for the answers on the other [music] side. But the sand and the wind in the desert [singing] brought her to learn. And the soft in the seas where the stars and the night sky taught her to believe sharing [music] her songs. [singing] Six strings they feed her. Six stages [music] of a cobblestone [music] falling on peers seeking [singing] redemption and under the [music] baby [singing] we're not alone. [singing] [music] Your [singing] soul was help to see that we're all action. [music] [singing] [music] She was just a child quiet and mild and invisible. [music] That's extraordinary. [applause] >> I want you all to know you're extraordinary. We just don't always know that, feel that, or have ever been told that. So, I'm just standing here right now singing this song and saying that. So, you might have a glimpse of the [laughter] fact that you are extraordinary, Henry. You're extraordinary. You [laughter] >> you Lady Baker, you're extraordinary. >> He's an angel. Do you want to sing it with me? >> Just sing Angel from Montgomery. We can do that. [music and applause] Sure. We'll have some singer alongers. [music] There is >> because I tune because I care about you. [music] >> You can sing from wherever you [music] are. You better be. [music] I am an [singing] old one. after my mother. [music] No [singing] man as a mother child that's grown old [music] dreams are thundering like man will [singing] desire him. This old house was burnt down a long [singing] time ago. [music] Make me [singing] an angel flies from [music] one glory. Make me [singing] a poster from the old rodeo. [music] Just give [singing] me one thing I can hold on to. To [music] believe in this living is just the hard way to go. [singing] [music] Yeah. was a young girl. [music] Oh, have you cowboy [singing] [music] me an [singing] angel? >> [music] >> rise from our glory. [music] Tell me one day. [music] [music] as flies in the kitchen. Ooh, I can hear them buzzing. [music] I ain't ain't [singing] done nothing since I woke up today. How the heck can a person [music] go to work [singing] every morning [music] come home every year and have nothing to [singing] say? [music] from God. [music] [music] One thing I will hold on [music] to. I will Even [music] [singing] at is a highway [music] to the world. [music] Great job. >> Oh, [laughter] >> yeah. >> Overpowered with the guitar. [music] >> But I I wish she Yeah. >> I did. Okay. This is actually a sing along. We're getting a little happier. >> I know, right? >> Should recognize it. [music] [music] >> [music] >> When the night has come, sing with [singing and music] me. The land is dark. That moon is the only light I can see. Well, [singing] I won't [music] be afraid. I won't be afraid. Just as long [singing] as you stand stand by me right stand by me. Your eyes will [singing] stand by [music] me. If you need me, [singing] darling, but come on stand by me. Henry is the sky we look upon. She tumbled and [music] fall to the [music] sea. I appreciate all of you for being here this beautiful evening and for the people that put this beautiful event on. >> Thank you Stephanie. Okay everybody, so that was Stephanie Capiji at the end of the event. And Stephanie is going to sing another song for us >> to our legislators. I mean, you can call a legislator at home. You can email a legislator. They actually have time for you. Oh, sorry about that. Sorry. Sorry. [laughter] They they they are us. And I can't think of a better example of they are us than Senator Vavski. Thank you. Thank you everyone and thank you for being here. I probably won't speak for long as I don't have anything prepared. I didn't know I would be speaking. But I want to recognize that we are once again coming together to honor our friends, our neighbors, and our loved ones who hit we have lost to overdoses and that we still as a state haven't done enough to stop that. I hear so much rhetoric about the harm people are in in Burlington. And the reality of it is is some of our most vulnerable neighbors are our neighbors who are at risk of dying of overdose. And there's so much more that we can do. I am waiting anxiously for the opening of an overdose prevention center. Thank [applause] you. legislation that I started working on as a graduate student on a task force with Sarah George and others [applause] and was able to get across the finish line against the governor's veto. It is legislation that I know will save people's lives. There are over 120 overdose prevention centers across the world and not a single person has died in an overdose prevention center. >> [applause] >> This is critical life-saving treatment that keeps verters safe. And we must move forward to get Burlington's overdose prevention center to be a reality. And we must invest in treatment and housing and all of the social services that are necessary so that people are not living in despair, in danger of dying of overdoses. because each one of those people is somebody's friend, is somebody's neighbor, somebody's child, somebody's sister, somebody's brother, and their lives matter. And so, thank you for being here. When I'm not in the Senate, I'm a clinical social worker, and I work and I see how much healing potential is possible when people have the love and support that they need. And so, when I look at out out at all of you, I see that love. I see that support. and I hope that we're able to continue forward so that there's a day where we're not grieving the loss of one more Vermonter who has died of an overdose. Thank you so much. [applause] >> Thank you. Now, I'd like to introduce our closing speaker, Maggie. Maggie and I have met at last year's event and I got to talk with her a little bit at recovery day and she has some very special words for us from Senator Sanders. [applause] >> Good evening. Uh Senator Sanderson sends his regrets for not being able to be here today. Um, but as Sarah shared, I do want to invite you to always call our office here in Burlington. Um, we are accessible uh anytime you want to call 8:30 to 5:30. The phones are open. If we're not there answering, you can answer, you can leave a voicemail, you can send an email, you can fill out a form. I want to promise you that every single one of those messages is read and heard and the senator pay is paying attention to what's going on. So, I'll share these remarks. Thank you so much for inviting me to speak on behalf of Senator Sanders. It's an honor to be here today. The senator asked me to share his thoughts with you and thank you for the extremely important and often very difficult work you do to bring attention to the substance use disorder crisis here in Vermont. Today is a day to remember. And for the parents and families here who have lost someone they love, we know that the overdose crisis is not simply a public health issue or a matter of statistics. It's a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, a spouse, a parent, or a friend whose absence is felt every single day. No family should have to experience that kind of loss. Bernie knows that no one is untouched by the addiction crisis in our state and across the country. The opioid epidemic has taken far too many lives and continues to devastate families and communities. He has long believed that the pharmaceutical companies that put profits ahead of the health and safety of patients must be held accountable for their role in creating and fueling this crisis. Bernie also believes that we must look at addiction through the lens of public health. Substance use disorder is a serious health condition and people struggling with addiction need treatment, support, and a path to recovery, not punishment. We need to fundamentally change the way we address mental health and substance use disorders in America and make sure that people can get the care they need before it's too late. Senator Sanders has long insisted that health care is a human right and that healthcare includes access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, including both inpatient and outpatient care that people are able to get help when they need it regardless of ability to pay. The senator's vision for a more humane health care system includes prevention efforts, comprehensive mental health, and substance use treatment as part of the care every American deserves. That is why as ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Bernie has made expanding access to mental health and substance use disorder services a priority. He led the Support Act for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025, a bipartisan legislation to ensure important programs focused on prevention, treatment, and recovery for people struggling with substance use disorder and mental health conditions continued. These programs support community-based services, help first responders respond to overdose, and provide education and resources to communities working to prevent addiction and save lives. Bernie knows that legislation alone will not solve this crisis. We need a much greater investment in prevention, treatment, recovery, mental health services, and the behavioral work behavioral health workforce. We need to make sure that people can get help before they reach a crisis point. We need to listen to families who've lived through this, families who know better than anyone what's at stake. And importantly, we need to remember the people we've lost. To the parents and families here today, Bernie wants you to know that he sees your pain. He honors your loved ones. And he's grateful for the work you're doing to make sure that other families do not have to experience the loss that you've endured. Thank you again for inviting me to be here. And thank you for everything you do to remember those we have lost and to fight for those struggling currently. Thank you. [applause] Thank you all for coming. I really appreciate it. I think there might even still be some ice cream left. >> [laughter] >> Thank you, Kim. Thank you, everyone. It's been it's been great. I want to close with these remarks. Most of you know who Sam Rivera is. Sam Rivera is the executive director of OnPoint in New York City. It's an overdose prevention center. There are two of them actually that have been very very successful. And one of the so one of the stories that Sam Rivera shares is I would like to share with you in closing. Sam says that it's what he learned from his mom that guides his work in harm reduction. And he characterizes it this way. We're going to love on you until you learn to love on yourself. So thank you [applause] Where's Stephanie? Stephanie is going to going to sing uh Can you sing two a couple of songs? >> Can I sing two songs? >> Couple of songs. Yeah. >> Stephanie's going to sing a couple of songs. Thank you everyone for being here. Ask [laughter] me in a week. >> Yeah. One, two, one, two, one, two. So really, I was going to end with this song because I think it's really fitting and because I want everyone to sing along [music] once I get settled here. Henry, can [music] you hear this guitar? And the song [music] starts like this. >> [music] >> Times in [singing] our lives we all have pain. We all [singing] have sorrow. But if we are wise, we [music and singing] know that there's always tomorrow. Holding on me [music] when you're [singing] not strong. I'll be your friend. [singing and music] I'll help you carry on. Oh, it won't be long [singing and music] till I'm lonely. Somebody [singing] to lean on. [music] Oh, please swallow [singing] your pride. [music] If I had things you [singing] need to borrow [music] for no one can feel those of your needs [singing and music] that you show you [music] just come only brother [singing] when you need a hand. We all [singing] need somebody to lean on. [music] Lean [singing] on me. When you're not strong, [music] I'll [singing] be your friend. I'll help you carry on. [music] >> [singing] >> It won't be long till I'm [music] going to need somebody to hold on. Well, you just count on me, brother. You need a hand. We all need to lean on. >> [music] >> I just might have a problem [singing] that you'd understand. We all need [music] somebody to lean on. All right. If there is a load you'll [singing] have to bear [music] that you can't carry right up the [singing] road [music] and I'll share your load. If [singing] you just call me [music] call me if you need a friend [singing] call me. Especially if you have Ben and Jerry's ice cream. [music] Call me. I'll be right there. Call [singing] me. [cheering] [applause] Hey you