North Quabbin Recovery photo project aims to show hope for community

The North Quabbin Recovery Center is working on a photo project for those who are in recovery from addiction, and those who have lost their lives to it. PHOTO BY ADA DENENFELD KELLY
Published: 08-22-2024 12:21 PM
Modified: 08-22-2024 1:20 PM |
ATHOL—Eight years ago, Mariah O’Leary lost her fiancé to addiction. This past February, she lost her best friend as well.
O’Leary – who identifies as someone in recovery – sent in photos of her late fiancé and friend, as well as photos of her and her boyfriend, who is also in recovery, to a photo project run by the North Quabbin Recovery Center.
The project seeks to raise awareness about addiction deaths and the possibility of recovery in honor of Overdose Awareness Month and National Recovery Month, recognized in August and September respectively, according to Recovery Connect Liaison Heather Taylor.
Next week, Taylor plans to assemble the photos in the window of the North Quabbin Recovery Center building on Main Street in Athol.
“We just want to show faces of recovery and represent hope in the community,” said Taylor, adding that pictures of those in recovery will be printed in color, and those who have died will be black and white.
“We’re going to surround the pictures in black and white [with] people who are in recovery… who are continuing their journey every single day… as a symbol of hope,” North Quabbin Recovery Center Program Director Sarah Collins added. “It will be on Main Street, and people will pass it every day. And really, [we’re] just hoping to connect, and have it resonate with people.”
For O’Leary, the project is an important opportunity to provide inspiration to her community. She shared that she has been sober for more than 100 days and studying to become an addiction counselor at Greenfield Community College.
“I went through a lot of really hard times, I’ve suffered a lot, and I didn’t think that I would ever make it out, definitely not alive,” O’Leary said. “I just want to be proof that we do recover, and that you can make a huge difference in your life in such a short amount of time… I know that a lot of people out there find shame and embarrassment in getting clean and sober, or admitting that they have an issue, and as someone who has been very popular in the community, I think that showing that I, myself, can do it, and that I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve had problems and that I am in recovery, that maybe people will come forward and seek help.”
Article continues after...
Yesterday's Most Read Articles






O’Leary added that she has found that the supportive community at the North Quabbin Recovery Center has been instrumental to her recovery.
The center opened in 2018 through a partnership between the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region, and the North Quabbin Community Coalition, in an attempt to address the opioid epidemic.
In the five years following the center’s opening, 46 Athol residents died from overdoses, a high proportion of the population for a town with just under 12,000 residents when compared to the statewide average of roughly three overdose deaths per 10,000 people in 2023, according to data from the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics.
Highly rural towns such as Athol have been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis, particularly in recent years, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).
Roughly 10 years ago, urban, rural and highly rural towns in Massachusetts saw similar rates of overdose deaths, according to data from the DPH. But during 2020, communities like Athol, classified as Rural Level 2 – the most rural category due to sparse population density and lack of proximity to urban core areas – saw a sharp increase in overdose deaths, while towns classified as Urban and Rural Level 1 saw far less dramatic increases. And while death rates in Rural Level 2 communities have decreased from their peak in 2020, they have remained higher than their less rural counterparts.
Despite these challenges, Collins and Taylor both stressed that the recovery center and the resources it offers is open to all.
“If you’re human, we want you here,” Collins said. “We’ve really used our space as a place to connect, because we know human connection is really important, and you’ll often hear, ‘recovery is connection.’”
Collins and Taylor are hopeful that projects such as these, working to decrease stigma and increase awareness, can make a difference, and stressed that they are working hard to support the community year-round, not just during the months designated for awareness.
Those who identify as in recovery and are interested in sharing a photograph of themself, or those interested in sharing photos of loved ones who have died because of addiction, can reach out to Taylor at Htaylor@nqcc.org.