NORWAY — Organizers of the first Western Maine Recovery Rally want people to know there is hope for those battling opioid addiction and their families and friends.

A walk coinciding with National Recovery Month will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. It starts at the First Universalist Church, 479 Main St., to Moore Park on High Street in Paris. Parking is available at the church, behind Cafe Nomad off Pikes Hill Road, behind Fare Share Co-op on Main Street and behind the Advertiser Democrat and along Main Street.

Shuttles in Mexico and Fryeburg will be available to take people to the rally and return them. Those who want a seat on the shuttle can contact Taylor Owens at [email protected] or call 739-6222.

The rally is hosted by the Western Maine Addiction Recovery Initiative, formerly known as the Western Maine Addiction Task Force.

Oxford County Sgt. Matt Baker, one of the leaders of the initiative, said the walk is “so people can pay a little more attention to our goal, so people know there is hope at the end of the tunnel and that it isn’t all bad stuff.”

Baker and Owens, of Healthy Oxford Hills, said the opioid problem is huge in Oxford County. That’s why the initiative partnered with Bennett Transportation of Fryeburg and RideSource of Norway to offer free shuttles to the rally.

Pickup will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Common Ground Counseling at 89 Main St. in Mexico and at the Fryeburg American Legion at 47 Bradley St.

A barbecue will be held at Moore Park. The first 100 participants will receive a free T-shirt, along with free silicone bracelets. There will be live music and a panel of speakers from the recovery community. They include Sheriff Wayne Gallant, representatives from Narcotics Anonymous and Young People in Recovery.

“The whole point of this is really to reduce stigma around recovery and celebrate recovery in Oxford County,” Owens said.

Baker agreed, noting that people only know bits and pieces of the addiction story, usually the negative aspects of someone overdosing and dying or getting arrested.

“There are people in recovery and this is something that can be overcome,” he said. “It just takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication. … You don’t have to be ashamed because you have a substance-abuse disorder. You should be proud of the fact that you can recover from that.”

Baker said his family wasn’t granted that opportunity when his daughter, Ronnie, died from a fentanyl-laced heroin overdose on Feb. 26, 2015.

“I, unfortunately, didn’t have the recovery aspect in our family to look at because my daughter never recovered, but I am hoping people can,” he said.

Project SaveME was started by the initiative and modeled at the Gloucester (Massachusetts) Police Deparment’s Angel program. It allows people addicted to opioids to turn in their drugs and/or paraphernalia to any police agency in the county and be paired with an “angel,” or recovery coach to help start their journey.

“That’s why it’s so important to me,” Baker said. “Before, it was something that I had to deal with at work. It really changes your view on things when you’re trying to keep your child alive and you have to do the CPR process. It just breaks my heart when I hear that people died or overdosed.”

He credits his bosses at the Sheriff’s Department with being supportive and allowing him to participate in the initiative. Baker gave them kudos for making sure their department was one of many in Oxford County in which officers carry Narcan, a lifesaving medicine that reverses the effects of opioid overdoses.

“We’ve had two saves now, so that is pretty good, so we’re getting there,” Baker said. “It’s a long haul, but more and more people are getting involved (with the initiative).” 

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