Somerville Ushering In National Recovery Month With Ceremony

SOMERVILLE, MA — The city announced it is holding an Overdose Remembrance Event on Thursday, Aug. 28 to honor the eight residents who died from drug overdoses in 2024.

The event will feature the planting of eight flags on the Highland Avenue side of City Hall, as well as one larger flag meant to honor people from previous years. It will also include a moment of silence, candle lighting, and Narcan distribution.

The month of September is known as National Recovery Month, and the color purple is used to represent it.

“Every purple flag represents a neighbor we’ve lost too soon and serves as a reminder that the overdose crisis is not abstract, it’s here in Somerville, touching families on every block,” Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said. “We can’t bring back those we’ve lost, but we can honor them by fighting stigma, carrying Narcan, and standing with those in recovery.”