Each August, we take time to pay tribute to the toll overdose takes on our communities.
To the heartbroken friends and family members of lost loved ones.
To activists who fight for policy reform.
To healthcare and harm reduction workers.
To unwavering advocates.
Overdose can affect anyone, so we remember the tenacity of our community and lean into the power we wield when we work together.
SAFE’s Tree of Life memorial expands on the spirit of Overdose Awareness Day, providing year-round remembrance and tribute to those who have suffered, fought, and offered their support to this cause.
The Tree of Life exists as a floor-to-ceiling mural greeting everyone who walks through SAFE’s doors. Anyone can sponsor adding a name to a leaf, whether to celebrate recovery, acknowledge advocacy, or as a life tribute.
Founded in 2020 by board member Mary Graham Louise, the initiative was launched to create a permanent, tangible site of remembrance, celebration, and awareness-raising right here at SAFE.
For those who have endured the stigma of overdose, the Tree of Life offers a rare chance for compassionate and judgement-free commemoration. “This initiative exists to say that we see each other,” says SAFE Co-Founder Jim Derick, “even through addictions and scenarios that have been traditionally stigmatized. The Tree is an affirmative statement that there is no shame in these illnesses, and we can forge connection not in spite of, but through these struggles.”
Derick also sees the Tree of Life as a way to offer public support and build consensus around destigmatization. “Oftentimes, we underestimate how important it is to provide positive affirmation to people who are in the fight for their lives in a disease that is so heavily stigmatized, or for those going through bereavement,” says Derick. “One good word, one positive action, can literally change their trajectory at any given day or time.”
The Tree of Life also affords a rare opportunity to celebrate recovery in a society where addiction stigma is so powerful, it can even overshadow recovery. “This is a community’s expression that someone’s recovery matters,” says Derick. “Here is where we publicly acknowledge someone’s recovery in a way that our society just doesn't do elsewhere.”
With every leaf added to the Tree of Life memorial, SAFE expands our community of advocates, supporters, and compassionate voices. Each contributor quite literally becomes a part of our physical space and, hopefully, a messenger for our mission to ensure that no one needs to go it alone.
Funds raised from the sale of leaves go toward furthering SAFE’s mission to provide community-wide, judgement-free support across a spectrum of substance use and mental health issues. As Derick puts it, those who add leaves aren’t just donors, they are stewards of the SAFE mission itself. "It is an act that says, ‘This is an important place and I’m going to help care for it,’” Derick says.
For more information on becoming part of the Tree of Life initiative, see SAFE’s website or contact us.