Overdose Awareness Candlelight Vigil
On Saturday, September 12 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., White Horse Recovery will host its annual Overdose Awareness Candlelight Vigil at the Littleton Community Center. The evening will bring together families, friends, and neighbors to honor and remember those lost to overdose, support those who grieve, and strengthen the community through awareness and hope.
“Our main goal is to remember and recognize the people we’ve lost,” said Erika Collins, North Country Peer Recovery Assistant Director. “This is about raising awareness of how much our State has been impacted by substance use and standing together as a community to say that these lives mattered.”
The vigil, now in its seventh year, will feature several new additions, including a Resource Fair with five confirmed partner organizations: Recovery Friendly Workplace, Blue Heron Neurofeedback and Counseling, Grafton County Alternative Sentencing Program, the Littleton Police Department, and Harbor Care. These organizations will set up tables to share information and connect attendees with services that support recovery, wellness, and healing.
A Memory Wall will again anchor the evening, displaying photos of individuals lost to overdose. Community members are invited to bring a photo of a loved one to add to the wall or to submit one in advance by reaching out to White Horse Recovery’s Littleton office.
“If anybody has someone they want to recognize, we encourage them to bring in a photo so we can add them to the wall,” said Littleton Peer Recovery Coach Caitlyn Hilliard. “That’s how many of the photos on our banners today came to be — families and friends wanting to make sure their loved ones are seen and remembered.”
The evening will also include a candle lighting, music, and space for reflection. Community members who wish to share their own stories — whether as someone in recovery, a survivor of overdose, a family member, or a friend — are invited to speak during the vigil.
Those interested in speaking may contact Hilliard at cait@whitehorseac.com. “It doesn’t have to be someone who lost a family member,” she added. “A lot of people in recovery have experienced overdose in one form or another…Every story matters and every voice helps break the stigma.”
Harbor Care is the event sponsor. Families are welcome, and children’s activities will include rock painting and bubbles. The venue is also handicap accessible.
Collins said she hopes this year’s vigil will continue to build momentum and encourage more of the Littleton community to take part.
“Littleton is a nice little town up in the North Country, and the stigma around substance use is starting to lessen,” she said. “When our community comes together for events like this, it benefits everyone.”
Founded in Center Ossipee, New Hampshire, White Horse Recovery has grown from a small organization into a leading nonprofit with 28 employees across four locations in Northern New Hampshire, providing both mental health and substance use disorder services, regardless of ability to pay.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you are not alone. White Horse Recovery offers services for those ready to start their journey to recovery. For more information, call 603-651-1441, Ext. 1.