Long Island marks beginning of International Overdose Awareness and Recovery Month

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. -- International Overdose Awareness Day signals the start of Opioid Recovery Month.

In two decades, more than 1 million Americans have died of accidental overdose.

CBS2's Jennifer McLogan met with parents who want the stigma for asking and receiving help to end.

Huntington is awash in purple, marking the beginning of International Overdose Awareness and Recovery Month.

"I think about those families that are waking up to the same tragic loss that I woke up to, so I want to be there for them," said Sharon Richmond, a Long Island schoolteacher who lost her son Vincent to overdose.

After Vincent accidentally overdosed on fentanyl, she became an advocate, consoling the bereaved, inspired by her students.

"The year that I lost my son Vincent, my kids gave me these beautiful letters. 'Even though you're really sad and hurting, you need to get back up and keep on going,'" she said.

Forty-three percent of students surveyed last year expressed feelings of hopelessness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Every day is Overdose Awareness Day for my family," said Larry Lamendola.

His daughter, Lisa, of Wantagh, suffered from scoliosis, was treated with opioids, then turned to heroin. Lamendola found his daughter dead in her bedroom.

"You talk about worst days of your life, that's it," he said.

Last year, 110,000 Americans died of opioid overdose, and more than 700 were Long Islanders, despite strides made to save lives with Narcan and fentanyl strips.

"Right now, this is national security internally for Long Island, New York and American families who are losing loved ones at a rate we've never before tracked in American history," said Steve Chassman, with the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

At a poignant candlelight commemoration at Thrive Center, names of young lives lost were read aloud.

Yet there is hope.

"If we do really good prevention in the schools, if we educate parents about how to talk to their kids, if we make sure that treatment is available to people who need it, if we erase the stigma associated with getting help," said Jeffrey Reynolds, with the Family and Children's Association.

"Let us do this to honor the memory of my daughter Lisa. Not only for her, but all that have lost loved ones as a result of an overdose," Lamendola said.