Lowering the Flags, Raising the Standard of Care: Honoring Loved Ones and Exploring Solutions on Overdose Awareness Day
For International Overdose Awareness Day, DOSC joined Delaware leaders and advocates to honor lives lost and turn remembrance into action, highlighting the urgent need for around-the-clock care and stronger pathways to treatment and recovery.
In observance of International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31, members of the Delaware Opioid Settlement Commission (DOSC) joined New Castle County executive Marcus Henry, Penny Rogers of Face the Facts Delaware, local law enforcement, behavioral health leaders, and community advocates at the New Castle County Government Center for a flag-lowering ceremony and roundtable discussion.
Lowering the flags serves as a powerful symbol of remembrance. It offers our community a unified space to pause, grieve, and honor the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and children lost to the overdose epidemic. It is a reminder that behind every statistic is a person who was deeply loved, plus a family whose future was altered forever.
During the ceremony, DOSC director Bradley Owens addressed those gathered to reaffirm DOSC’s ongoing commitment to funding frontline organizations that serve individuals actively navigating substance use disorder, celebrating those in sustained recovery, and dismantling the stigma that still surrounds addiction. On a personal note, Brad shared his motivation for this work, honoring the memory of his late sister, Jordy, who died in an alcohol-related car accident as a teenager, and her close friend Chloe, who passed away from an overdose recently. Brad then introduced Julia Lawes, a voting member of DOSC, who delivered a beautiful tribute to her brother, John, who passed away due to an intentional overdose in 2025. These personal stories served as a powerful reminder that behind every policy and funding decision are real lives, families, and communities.
Active Awareness: A Message from Penny Rogers
As part of our joint efforts around International Overdose Awareness Day, DOSC was honored to partner with Penny Rogers on a powerful op-ed exploring what it truly means to turn passive awareness into active community support. Her piece was titled “Changing the Overdose Narrative Starts with a Simple Choice: Will You Be Active or Passive in Your Awareness?” In it, Penny reflects on her personal journey as a mother, the lessons learned from losing her son Vincente and daughter Gabriella, and how every Delawarean can take action — whether by sharing a story, volunteering, or simply showing up without judgment for a neighbor in pain.
From Remembrance to Action: The Frontline Roundtable
Following the flag lowering, DOSC leadership sat down for a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders across the recovery continuum. Participants included New Castle County leadership, direct-service nonprofits, recovery residence networks, and representatives from the New Castle County Police Department’s Hero Help Program and Behavioral Health Unit.
While the ceremony provided space to remember those we have lost, the roundtable focused on how we keep people alive today.
A central takeaway from the discussion was a critical gap in our current system of care: the urgent need for 24/7 respite care and low-barrier stabilization for individuals with high needs.
Frontline providers and police officers shared a common challenge. When an individual in active addiction expresses a willingness to enter treatment during “off-hours” — such as late at night or over the weekend — or lacks immediate identification and paperwork, finding a safe place for them is extremely difficult. Too often, individuals are forced into hospital emergency departments that are not built for nonemergent behavioral health stabilization — or worse, back onto the street where the window of willingness closes.
Every participant at the table agreed that establishing dedicated 24/7 respite resources equipped with specialized staff who can handle complex cases, manage immediate needs, and hold space until formal treatment enrollment opens would transform Delaware’s continuum of care.
Strengthening Delaware’s Safety Net
The roundtable reinforced DOSC’s core mission: to identify real-world service gaps, break down operational silos, and direct settlement dollars where they can save the most lives.
As Penny Rogers powerfully shared during the ceremony, “Recovery is work every single day. And for the person who isn’t ready for recovery yet, our job is still to keep them alive long enough to have the opportunity to get there.”
We extend our deep gratitude to county executive Marcus Henry for hosting this event, to Penny Rogers for her unwavering advocacy, and to the courageous individuals in recovery who stood up to show our state what hope looks like. DOSC remains committed to turning the shared insights from this roundtable into sustainable, lifesaving infrastructure for all Delawareans.
