Cape Girardeau kicks off Recovery Month with Overdose Awareness Day ceremony Saturday

Several area organizations are holding events beginning Saturday, Aug. 31, to bring awareness to substance abuse and recovery heading into September, which is National Recovery Month.

A ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Ivers Square Gazebo, 44 N. Lorimier St. in downtown Cape Girardeau to kick off a month of recovery awareness.

Scott Moyers, director of behavior health-residential at the Gibson Center for Behavioral Change, said a 14-year-old who lost a parent to overdose has volunteered to speak at Saturday's event to remind those in attendance that overdoses don’t just affect people who are addicted. Moyers said the event will include a violinist and a reading of names of those who perished from overdoses locally. Saturday, the final day of August, is National Overdose Awareness Day.

Data shows that the numbers of overdose deaths in Missouri decreased for the first time in five years in 2023. That year, 1,948 people died from overdoses, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and heroin were by far the drug that caused the most deaths.

Saturday’s event will pay respect to those lost to drugs, as well as their families and friends, but once the calendar flips to September, the focus will turn to recovery.

Moyers, a former Southeast Missourian reporter who hit rock bottom more than 10 years ago, said he is a living example that people can and do recover from addiction with the right treatment and therapy.

“By any measure, I’m a success story,” Moyers said. He said he has been clean for more than 10 years. Along his recovery journey, he apologized to the people he hurt, remarried and has good relationships with his children. His youngest child, “god willing” will never experience his father as an active addicted person. Moyers said through his recovery he’s come to learn more about himself and the deep-seeded reasons why he turned to drugs in the first place. The idea for the events in September, he said, is to remind the public that addicts in the throes of substance abuse are still people who can get better. He carries those sentiments with him every day in his work at the Gibson Center.

Moyers explained that several organizations will celebrate recovery in September. Up until a handful of years ago, organizations planned events separately, but now a committee represented by the organizations plan events that complement one another. The events are collaborative efforts involving the Gibson Center for Behavioral Change, FCC Behavioral Health, Community Counseling Center, New Season Treatment Center and BOSS Life.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with these amazing organizations to bring these National Recovery Month events to Cape Girardeau,” event organizer Lezlie Fox, program manager of the We Do Recover Community Center, said in a news release. “These events are a powerful way to celebrate the incredible journeys of those in recovery, challenge the stigma associated with addiction, and offer hope to those still struggling. We invite the entire community to join us in raising awareness and supporting recovery efforts.”

Here is a list of scheduled events:

• Overdose Awareness Day: 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, at the Ivers Square Gazebo, 44 N. Lorimier St.;

• Recognizing First Responders: Friday, Sept. 20, over the lunch hour. The Gibson Center for Behavioral Change will be providing meals to area first responders to show appreciation for the work they do in the behavioral health field;

• Recovery Fest: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at the 4H Building at Arena Park;

• Speaker Series: Saturday, Sept. 7, 14 and 21 at the We Do Recover Community Center, 715 Broadway.