Overdose Awareness Raised On The Green

by Mona Mahadevan The New Haven independent

New Haven Director of Public Health Maritza Bond recalls 2018’s overdose crisis on the Green.

Orlando Estrella and Denise Ortiz said they treat their clients like family because they’re part of the same community.

After Roosevelt Watkins described his multi-decade experience with substance abuse and recovery, another man, standing nearby on the Green, shook Watkins’s hand. He said he’d just reached a full year of sobriety and thanked Watkins for so candidly sharing his story. 

The two men were on the Green Friday afternoon as part of an event commemorating International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), the world’s largest campaign focused on ending overdoses and supporting those affected by substance abuse. 

The three-hour health and wellness fair, which featured over 25 service providers, was hosted by the New Haven Health Department and Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center. Booths offered harm reduction methods (including access to Naloxone), free health services (including HIV and hepatitis testing), and information about evidence-based behavioral health therapy. 

There was also a press conference halfway through the event, with remarks from city Health Director Maritza Bond, Mayor Justin Elicker, state Comptroller Sean Scanlon, Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center CEO Michael Taylor, and Holly Quinonez, who shared her personal struggle with substance abuse. On the schedule was also a reading of names of those lost to drug overdose, as well as an open-mic for attendees to share their experiences with substance abuse. 

On Friday, Watkins manned the booth for the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), a New Haven-based nonprofit that provides free meals and additional support services (such as medical care) to people experiencing homelessness. 

His involvement with DESK began as a client. While he was still homeless, he received his certification as a Recovery Support Specialist (RSS) through a program that trains people who have personal experience in substance use recovery to support others struggling with addiction. He later became a Peer Engagement Specialist for DESK and now helps people seeking peer mentorship and guidance on their recovery journeys.

He credits DESK for helping him get clean and find stable housing. ​“It gives you a little hope,” he said of DESK. ​“Once you accomplish something, you have the courage to do something else.” He said he hopes others recognize that those struggling with substance abuse are people, and ​“they still have value.”

That imperative, of humanizing people with substance use disorders, is a guiding principle for New Haven’s Multicultural Ambulatory Addictions Services (MAAS), a behavioral health group that provides a mixture of intensive and outpatient treatment programs for adults seeking recovery. MAAS, which is part of the nonprofit Chemical Abuse Services Agency (CASA), targets traditionally underserved populations and offers all services in both English and Spanish. The group has over 450 clients from all over Connecticut. 

“It’s a mom-and-pop treatment center,” said Orlando Estrella, who has worked at MAAS for about a year. He said the staff knows every client’s name and their children’s names, and MAAS’s director always manages to find time to speak to anyone who needs her. 

Estrella was a case worker in New York until his ex-wife died from a fentanyl overdose four years ago. ​“Those were the hardest phone calls I’ve ever made,” he said, reflecting on what is was like to tell his children the news. When his friend told him about an opening at MAAS, he felt inspired to join their team and help others struggling with addiction.

Denise Ortiz, who has worked at MAAS for eight years, shares Estrella’s personal connection with substance abuse, listing close friends and family members that she had lost to overdoses over the years. Since ​“day one” of working at MAAS, she said, she’s felt like she’s making a difference. 

She urged the government to provide ​“more funds” and ​“more resources” to recovery programs, and she called upon people to ​“not stereotype” those with addictions. ​“Most addiction comes from trauma,” she said. Estrella agreed, adding that people often turn to drugs as a way to ​“erase their pain,” not as a ​“lifestyle choice.” 

During the press conference, top city and state officials also highlighted the importance of treating people suffering from addiction with compassion and love. Bond opened the meeting by noting that 76 New Haveners died from drug overdose in 2024, and this year, 36 people have already passed. 

“Loss ripples through neighborhoods, workplaces, and places of worship,” added Bond, which is why the theme for this year’s event is ​“One Big Family Driven By Hope.” Bond said she aspires to have people extend the compassion they show their family members to the rest of their community. 

In terms of practical steps, she listed the Health Department’s recent efforts on addressing substance abuse, including a county-wide de-stigmatization campaign, trainings for medical providers, and website upgrades that make it easier for people to find resources they need. 

Elicker also noted New Haven’s progress on harm reduction initiatives, such as expanding the Elm City COMPASS program, which provides support to people experiencing mental health or substance use crises, and encouraging all police officers to carry Narcan. 

After the press conference, Bond told the Independent that progress on reducing substance abuse is being made, but ​“disenfranchised communities are still affected at higher rates.” Over 100 people went to the Health Department’s booth within the first hour alone, she added, which ​“lets you know that people need resources.”

Quinonez, who went to a treatment center for her substance use disorder, said, ​“I see how privileged I am to be here right now.” Many people she knows, she added, ​“have died,” experienced ​“permanent injuries,” or spent ​“decades in and out of prison.” 

“We really should be putting a lot more money to our people who are suffering,” she said, ​“and towards treating the whole person,” not just their addiction. 

State Comptroller Sean Scanlon: “100,000 people, my office estimates, will lose access to Medicaid” due to the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” He said the cuts would jeopardize New Haven’s progress on combatting overdoses.

Statistics on addiction in New Haven.

Robin Moody from Cornell Scott urges the government to intervene at earlier stages: “Addiction comes down the line, when you don’t have food to eat and don’t have a place to lay your head.”