NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- Lives are lost every month to opioid overdose deaths.

According to Hoosier Action, nine people died every month in Clark and Floyd Counties combined in 2021.

"We need help. We need help to end this," Tony Hostetler, with Hoosier Action, said.

Hoosier Action and harm reduction organizations say more people overdosed this past weekend in Floyd County. This led to even more urgency at Thursday night's already-scheduled Town Hall in New Albany to discuss local solutions to the overdose crisis.

The lives lost were on the minds of everyone inside Park Christian Church.

"We believe that this is not only a public health emergency, but it's also a moral and a spiritual crisis." Pastor Gabe Pfefer said. "It's something that is imperiling the hearts and the souls in our community."

The opioid epidemic has only gotten worse in the pandemic.

One of those lost in 2021 was the husband of Tracy Skaggs. She is determined to make sure he is remembered for who he was, not as a statistic.

"He was more than his addiction. He was a husband, a father, a grandfather," Skaggs said. "He had talent. He was funny. He had an infectious laugh. And he would do anything for any of you all in this room."

Skaggs, herself, is in recovery after more than 30 years of addiction. She told the crowd that she's only 50 years old.

"At the age of 13, my mother introduced me to cocaine," Skaggs said. "So, I grew up the child of an addict. I became the addict. I married an addict, and I'm also the mother of an addict."

She worries about her daughter every day, just as Carissa Miller thinks of her sister.

"And so that constant fear every day of getting that phone call that she didn't make it, that's terrifying," Miller said.

Five years ago, Miller lost her own mother to Hepatitis C after she battled addiction.

Now, Miller is a social worker who works with Hoosier Action, a community organization that, in part, focuses on communities impacted by the opioid crisis.

Tony Hostetler is a Hoosier Action leader. He is a recovering addict who survived overdose. Now he's the director of a faith-based transitional house.

"Thank God some of our lives were saved in here, because we can give back now," Hostetler said.

The people in the pews came to church Thursday night to learn more about how the community can hold the solution.

A new campaign led by the Ohio River Valley Chapter of Hoosier Action calls for three objectives:

  • Require all first responders to carry naloxone
  • Equip at least 10 more local organizations or businesses to dispense or carry naloxone
  • Increase the number of trash cans with syringe disposal in the Uptown and Midtown neighborhoods to reduce the incidence of improperly disposed syringes

Skaggs led a demonstration of how to administer Narcan to someone who might be in overdose. She told the audience that it's harmless, and only impacts those who are overdosing.

"The seconds that you can save in getting that Narcan to someone and restoring breathing are precious minutes of oxygen to the brain that can make the difference of life or death," Miller said.

"Narcan would've saved my brother's life. That was my best friend," Julie Steed said.

There were 100 packs of Narcan entered in the church to be passed out and all of them were gone before the end of the night.

This night was a call to action against the crisis. But more importantly, a reminder to love and treat those struggling with dignity.

The next Town Hall in New Albany is scheduled for Oct. 27.

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