International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is observed annually on August 31.
The day has been around for 25 years. Each year, organizations across the globe work to raise awareness and share knowledge about drug addiction, as well as provide a day for families and friends to grieve those lost to drug overdose. It comes a day before the start of National Recovery Month, which is observed every September.
This year, Williamstown hosted an IOAD event with the Black Poster Project, a North Jersey-based organization that honors those who lost their lives to overdose. At Black Poster Project events, a photo of each honoree is printed and displayed on a large black poster with their name and birth and death years.
Relatives who passed from an overdose or addiction were positioned together at the Black Poster Project’s International Overdose Awareness Day event.
The event, which was held on Sunday, August 30, was sponsored by the Monroe Township Mayor’s Committee on Addiction Awareness (MCAA), Williamtown’s Living Recovery Network and the New Jersey State Police. It was a six-hour-long event, beginning at 10 a.m. and running until 4 p.m. (Note: This story was reported and sent to press before the event occurred).
According to Michele Schreffler-Perez, co-founder of Living Recovery Network, the event was expected to have more than a thousand posters lined up inside Williamstown High School’s gymnasium. People from all over, not just Williamstown, had the opportunity to submit a lost loved one to the event. She also said that there was a separate section for first responders and veterans.
At the event, there were several guest speakers, a vigil ceremony, educational components, available resources for mental health and substance abuse disorders, and space for honoring those lost to overdose.
This is the first time Williamstown has hosted this event, and Schreffler-Perez and Mayor Greg Wolfe said this is the first time the Black Poster Project has held an event in South Jersey, making this a large and highly-anticipated event.
In previous years, the township has hosted annual Healing in Unity memorial vigils for IOAD. Wolfe said that these events, which were held in Owens Park, were important gatherings from families in the community to connect with others and their lost loved ones.
“This type of event is like a funeral for some of these families, because when you lose somebody to addiction, oftentimes they don’t even have a funeral.” Wolfe said. This applies to the Black Poster Project events, as well.
Wolfe, who has been mayor since January 2023, has made drug addiction awareness and prevention a priority for Williamstown. Back in 2024, he established the MCAA, which is dedicated to contributing towards the fight against substance abuse disorders and ultimately helping to create a healthier community.
“I was a police officer serving in Monroe Township for over 25 years, and many of those years I worked narcotics. I was out there, you know, kicking in doors, executing search warrants, arresting people for drugs,” Wolfe said. “But now, I’m looking through different lenses…I don’t think (law enforcement) is helping the main issue, (which is) the actual drug use.”
Wolfe said the township “receives opioid settlement money, which is paid by pharmaceutical companies who were court ordered to pay damages, because so many people were becoming addicted to their drugs, and they had to pay this to the municipalities.”
According to Wolfe, when he became mayor, he discovered part of this money was previously going towards law enforcement for things like paying officers working narcotics overtime and some awareness programming. However, he said he believed that money can be of better use.
“I have now diverted those monies to promoting education, prevention, public awareness and recovery, all in the fight against all substance abuse disorders,” he said.
The Monroe Township Police Department, town council, and other local organizations are on board with the MCAA and fostering improved support and awareness surrounding substance abuse and addiction, Wolfe said, and MCAA has partnerships with them.
“The first thing we had to do as a township, in my opinion, was admit we actually had a problem here,” Wolfe said.
The conversation around substance abuse is often highly stigmatized, which can make it difficult for towns to fully admit there is a prevalent issue that is in need of attention. The town’s decision to admit a problem mirrors the conversations and decisions individuals struggle with, too.
Since October 2025, locals who may be struggling with addiction-related issues have new spaces to receive support and help, thanks to the Living Recovery Network.
Living Recovery Network was founded by two local residents, Schreffler-Perez and Richie LoRusso Jr. They each have personal connections to drug addiction, and they wanted to use this new organization as a way to give back to the community and continue supporting others in ways they each have been supported and educated over the years. Schreffler-Perez and Richie LoRusso Jr. have been working closely together for about seven years.
Schreffler-Perez became involved with addiction education about 11 years ago, when her son told her he was struggling with a heroin addiction.
A section of black posters was dedicated to veterans.
“As a parent, you want to fix it, so I was on a mission,” she said. She started taking classes, speaking with professionals, listening to speakers, reading books and doing research so she could learn how to help and understand her son.
Through this time, she realized how important collaboration is when it comes to addiction and recovery. She ended up getting involved in recovery programming and addiction education. Later, she became part of the New Jersey State Police’s Operation RISE (Recovery Initiative Support & Engagement) program and has served as its program director for three years.
Her son died of an overdose at 28 years old on March 28, 2019. Shortly after, she became LoRusso’s recovery coach when he was in his third year of sobriety; he celebrated his tenth year of sobriety this April.
“He got me out of my funk. He said, ‘Come on, I need somebody to speak at a treatment center to a women’s group,’” Schreffler-Perez said. She said she had felt like she did not need to do this kind of work anymore, since her son had lost his battle. However, LoRusso helped her get back on track by helping others when he reached out.
“All that I can say is that’s the day I came back alive. This is what I do, and this is what I’m good at,” she said. “The day my son passed away, we were communicating through text, and he said to me, ’Mom, don’t ever stop what you’re doing. Sometimes you just need to take a break, but this is what you’re good at, and this is what you do. You’re saving lives.’”
Schreffler-Perez said the purpose of starting Living Recovery Network was to “enhance engagement with the peer recovery community…and provide resiliency for them.”
Peer support, family support, and training and education are all provided through the organization.
Hour-long all-recovery meetings – which are open to anyone affected by substance use disorder – are held four times a week. Schreffler-Perez said they typically host around 40 or more attendees.
Tuesday meetings are at Starting Point in Haddon Township at 7 p.m.; Thursday meetings are at Pfeiffer Community Center in Williamstown at 7 p.m.; Saturday meetings are at All Roads Recovery Center in Pleasantville at 6 p.m.; and Sunday meetings can either be attended in person at My Friends House Recovery Center in Woodbury Heights or virtually through Zoom at 7 p.m.
All-grief recovery meetings – which are open to anyone grieving a substance use-related death – are held on Wednesdays at Pfeiffer Community Center at 7 p.m.
The organization also offers other events, such as sober game nights, an upcoming 5K run/walk in Mount Laurel on October 10 and the Black Poster Project event.
“The overall goal for all of this is to empower our residents and to strengthen our public health and improve the quality of life for everyone who either lives, works or comes here,” Wolfe said of MCAA, Living Recovery Network and substance-related programming in town.
“The overall goal is to get the awareness out there and get a healthier Monroe Township.”
Thousands of black posters representing individuals who lost their lives to overdose took up majority of the Williamstown High School gym at the Black Poster Project’s International Overdose Awareness Day event.
