By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Two hundred residents came together to support people in recovery and honor the lives lost to addiction during the seventh annual A Night of Hope on the Town Common on Sunday, Sept. 28.
The Think of Michael Foundation and A Healthy Lynnfield co-hosted the ceremony once again in order to commemorate National Recovery Month. Town Administrator Rob Dolan said people in recovery “are living proof that radical change is possible.”
“You give all of us genuine hope and countless others the hope that they too can be successful,” said Dolan. “We applaud your bravery and salute the incredible strength you have demonstrated simply by choosing life.”
A Healthy Lynnfield Chair/Select Board Chair Phil Crawford thanked the ceremony’s attendees for coming to A Night of Hope.
“This month isn’t about awareness,” said Crawford. “It is about hope, healing and the power of community. Recovery takes courage, resilience and second chances. Tonight, we celebrate that journey. Did you know that three out of four people succeed in overcoming substance use disorders? That is proof that recovery is real and is something worth believing in.”
Think of Michael Foundation Vice President Jamie Dalton said National Recovery Month is “a time to honor the strength of those living in recovery, to remember the loved ones we have lost and to ignite hope for those still struggling.”
“I carry this month deeply in my heart,” said Dalton. “Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day, and it leads us into a month of remembrance, advocacy and hope. Events like A Night of Hope are important in every community because every community has been, is and will continue to be affected by this disease.”
Dalton recalled that his journey in recovery began after his brother, Michael, passed away from an opiate overdose on Jan. 13, 2018.
“It shattered my world and changed the path I walk,” said Dalton. “Mike’s life, his struggle and his memory are here with me every day. He is my light and he is my why. The first purple ribbon I hang every year is for him, right outside of the recovery center in East Boston alongside the amazing team I work with who have lost loved ones as well. It’s a close reminder about why we do the work that we do.”
Dalton said the last purple ribbon he places for National Recovery Month “goes on Michael’s grave at Woodlawn Cemetery, held down with a Think of Michael hockey puck.”
“It’s a place that used to bring me panic attacks and tears,” said Dalton. “It now brings me peace and fuels my purpose. That is where I go to think, to find strength, peace and guidance, and to remember why I do this work: To hopefully prevent another little brother from having to talk to his brother at his grave. This January, God willing, I will celebrate eight years in recovery. Recovery is real and recovery is possible. Recovery isn’t about being perfect. It’s about progress. One day, one step and one breath at a time.”
Principal Michelle Lipinski recalled how she opened Northshore Recovery High School in Beverly in September 2006, which was the first recovery high school to open in Massachusetts and on the East Coast.
“Wherever I turned, I kept hearing that when a student is relapsing, you must kick them out,” said Lipinski. “This is a world they were equating relapse with failure, and not a need for more and not less support.”
Lipinski said she “didn’t follow the rules” because she said zero tolerance policies don’t work.
“We do not suspend for relapse since addiction is not a moral failing,” said Lipinski. “It is a medical condition that needs to be treated as such.”
Lipinski said Northshore Recovery High School works to help students and families connect with community resources in order make sure they get the help and support that they need.
“However, we still fall short,” said Lipinski. “Nothing could have prepared us for what started back in 2015 when fentanyl flooded our streets and homes. For nine years, we did not lose one student. Over the last nine years, we have buried 36 current and former students.”
Lipinski said a number of Northshore Recovery High School graduates have started recovery programs in college and have began working in substance use, mental health and education fields after they graduate.
“We encourage people to use their voices to help one another out of the darkness,” said Lipinski. “We need to eliminate the shame and stigma associated with this disease so people can ask for help without fear of retribution and judgment.”
North Suffolk Community Services Recovery Support Navigator Keri Dow said her journey in recovery has had “ups and downs.” She first started using drugs in the 1990s.
“That took away all of the anxieties that I felt,” said Dow.
After Dow initially found success in recovery, she began taking prescription drugs to treat her anxiety. She said that decision ended up being a setback.
“I just celebrated five years in recovery,” said Dow. “Time is important, but it’s about today. My recovery has been quite a journey. As long as people are breathing, there is still hope. When people say, ‘oh, that person is never going to get it,’ I hate that. We need to smash that because it is not true.”
North Suffolk Community Services Recovery Support Services Director Katie O’Leary has also been in long-term recovery.
“I am a woman who has clawed her way out of the depths despair and into the light,” said O’Leary. “My heart is overflowing with gratitude not because the road has been easy, but because I survived it. I found purpose. Recovery has transformed me in ways I never thought possible. It has been a journey paved with lots of tears, sleepless nights and moments when I didn’t think I could go on. But it has also been filled with grace, second chances and with the kind of hope that slowly rebuilds a broken spirit.”
O’Leary said recovery has taught her a number of important life lessons.
“Even in the darkest places, there is light,” said O’Leary. “Even when you feel forgotten, you are not alone. And even when you believe that you are beyond saving, there is still a way forward because healing doesn’t happen all at once. It happens in quiet moments, in small victories and the gentle grace of being seen and loved just as you are. Too many people suffer in silence, believing they are alone and that isolation becomes a wall between hope and despair. But when we come together, when we speak up and when we reach out, we tear down those walls. We remind each other that no one is beyond help and no one has to walk their path alone.”
O’Leary said, “Recovery isn’t about breaking free from your addiction.”
“It’s about reclaiming your life, your dignity and your worth,” said O’Leary. “It’s about learning to forgive yourself, to show compassion to the person you were and to embrace the person you are becoming. No one chooses addiction. No one wakes up hoping to exist in the darkness. At the end of the day, addiction is a storm we weather, not the name we carry. Every single one of us deserves grace, understanding and a safe place to heal.”
O’Leary said she decided to enter recovery when “the pain became louder than the fear.”
“When staying the same hurt more than the unknown, that was my breaking point but it was also my turning point,” said O’Leary. “And while the road has been challenging, every step has been worth it. Tonight, I honor the struggle. Every single one of us carries something: Some pain, some burden and some story we don’t always share. Your courage to show up, to speak your truth and to keep fighting matters. You matter. Your story could be the spark someone else needs to find their way. Let’s keep showing the world that recovery is not just possible, it’s powerful. It’s a testament to the strength of the human spirit. Together, we are lighting the way for others still lost in their darkness. Together, we are hope.”
Aftermath Addiction Center and Aftermath Behavioral Health Chief Executive Officer Matt Ganem, who also spoke at A Night of Hope in September 2022, said April 21 marked his 19th year in recovery after he was previously addicted to heroin.
“It’s crazy to think it has been 19 years since I hit rock bottom and bounce back from that,” said Ganem. “Nineteen years ago, you would have never seen an event like this in Lynnfield. You would never see a crowd of people, students standing up and a town willing to openly speak and try to have a conversation about what could possibly happen if you go down the wrong path. One of the biggest things I see today that is different is prevention and education, and trying to talk to the kids at a younger age.”
After entering recovery 19 years ago, Ganem said he has “built the most beautiful life you could imagine.”
“I turned my pain into purpose,” said Ganem. “I have been an advocate for people for recovery and I have been down at the State House battling. I have opened up treatment centers in Massachusetts, and I am the CEO of Aftermath Addiction Center and Aftermath Behavioral Health. I live in a state of gratitude. I have two absolutely amazing kids. I live a beautiful life with the most beautiful friends, and I owe it all to recovery. I am beyond grateful for that.”
Ganem said helping people in recovery “is absolutely amazing.”
After each of A Night of Hope’s speakers concluded their remarks, the ceremony’s attendees gave them a round of applause.
A Healthy Lynnfield Youth Council members Lorelei Eckhardt, Katie McGuinness and Ella Price encouraged the ceremony’s attendees to make healthy choices and have hope.
Wakefield-Lynnfield United Methodist Church Rev. Glenn Mortimer, Ave Maria Parish Rev. Paul Ritt, Ave Maria Rev./Parochial Vicar Peter Pham and Deacon Dan Bassile gave the closing blessings during A Night of Hope. The ceremony concluded with attendees lighting the electronic purple votive candles in support of people in recovery and in remembrance of the lives lost to addiction.
“Let’s leave tonight committed to making every night in Lynnfield A Night of Hope,” said Dolan.