Recovery Center unveils photos to celebrate recovery, mourn losses

ATHOL – On Monday, a ceremony for International Overdose Awareness Day was held to unveil a display at the North Quabbin Recovery Center in Athol to celebrate addiction recovery and honor those who have been lost.

When the curtains dropped, some 200 pictures of area residents who have battled with addiction were revealed – many who are at various stages of recovery, and others who have been lost to addiction. The pictures of those in recovery are in color, while the photos of those who have died are black-and-white.

Debra McLaughlin, coordinator for the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region, told the Athol Daily News that between 2012 and 2025, 304 local individuals lost their lives to an opioid overdose.

“Last year, my friend was in color. This year, she is in black-and-white. Last year, her picture represented someone who was here; someone who was a part of our recovery community. This year, her picture represents someone we are remembering.

Heather taylor

“For a rural community like ours, that is a staggering number,” she said. “It just reveals the depth and breadth of the opioid epidemic. The North Quabbin Recovery Center, the Recover Project (in Greenfield), and some of the other recovery-related organizations have contributed to the current declines in opioid-related fatalities and hope to build on those successes.”

Among those who spoke to those gathered for the event was Heather Taylor, who described herself as “a woman in long-term recovery. For me, that means I have not used mind-altering substances since June 10, 2010.”

Taylor, who is a Recovery Connect liaison with the NQRC, said this year’s photo display is “incredibly personal” for her.

“Last year, my friend was in color. This year, she is in black-and-white,” said an emotional Taylor. “Last year, her picture represented someone who was here; someone who was a part of our recovery community. This year, her picture represents someone we are remembering. And that change – from color to black-and-white – is a heartbreaking reminder of how real this is. This disease is real.

“Behind every photo is a real person,” Taylor continued. “Someone who was loved. Someone who had a family, friends, dreams, struggles and a place in this community. These aren’t statistics. These aren’t just names. These are people.”

That, she said, is why the theme of this year’s window is “Recovery Equals Change.”

“I always had faith, hopes, and dreams, but I never could find the right people in the community to help me turn myself around,” said Mariah O’Leary, who also is in recovery. “Being on the streets and running into the problems that I did – overdoses, me overdosing – I became acquainted with the coalition and little by little, I reached out, and they reached out to me.”

After going to rehab, she said, she ended up going to the Recovery Center and found friendship and fellowship. She is now on her way to becoming a phlebotomist.

“And I’ve always, always, always wanted to be a mom. Now I’m 35 and a mom,” she said, while holding her 2-month-old son, Jameson.

Heather Bialecki-Canning, executive director of the North Quabbin Community Coalition, the umbrella organization for the NQRC, said this is the third year for the photo project.

“The month of August really looks at overdose and loss, which is so important to know where we are coming from, and the loss that has impacted our entire community – not just those struggling with addiction,” she said. “The impact is really community-wide. Then September is really all about hope; it’s National Recovery Month….We want to lay the foundations moving forward and create a community that really embraces recovery, acknowledges recovery, and knows that it’s not a straight line; that there’s loss along the way, but that doesn’t hold us down at all.”

Before the unveiling, state Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, presented Bialecki-Canning with a citation from the state House of Representatives citing the Community Coalition and Recovery Center for its work in helping people in recovery and raising community awareness.

“These are our neighbors. They’re important members of the community,” Whipps said of those in recovery. “The Recovery Center has gone out of its way to guide people on the path to recovery, show that recovery is possible, and that you can have a good life in recovery. If it weren’t for organizations like this, the loss would be greater.”