Long Beach youth \u2013 and other residents \u2013 can learn about and advocate for solutions to address the opioid crisis during the city\u2019s showcase event this weekend.<\/p>\n
The Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 Harm Reduction Program, in partnership with the Youth Leadership Institute, will host a youth opioid awareness showcase on from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, 5870 Atlantic Ave.<\/p>\n
This free, all-ages event will center around the theme, \u201cHear Us: Help Each Other and Redirect,\u201d and will focus on education, advocacy and youth-developed solutions to address the opioid crisis, according to a press release.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung people are leading the way in reshaping how we respond to the opioid epidemic \u2013 leading with courage, clear solutions and a commitment to ending stigma,\u201d Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement. \u201cTheir input and leadership exhibited through this program have been an essential part of building a healthier, more equitable Long Beach for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event is a culmination of the city\u2019s Youth Opioid Awareness Campaign, which launched in March in response to the increasing number of opioid-related overdoses across Long Beach.<\/p>\n
Opioid-related deaths among Long Beach residents increased annually from 23 in 2018 to 98 in 2022, representing a 326% increase over this period, with a total of 332 opioid-related deaths from 2018 to 2022, according to the city\u2019s inaugural opioid overdose report.<\/p>\n
Over the past seven months, youth participants have explored the impacts of opioids in their neighborhoods, led three focus groups to share youth perspectives, designed original zines blending storytelling with harm reduction strategies, and launched a social media campaign to raise awareness citywide, according to a press release.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s showcase will feature a presentation by seven youth participants from the Youth Opioid Awareness Campaign, who will share their artwork and discuss the creative process behind their projects, according to a press release. Original zines and a youth-led social media campaign, designed to inform and engage their peers, will also be featured.<\/p>\n
Attendees will also have the opportunity to walk around and view the young people\u2019s artwork on display and engage with participating youth from the program.<\/p>\n
Both the campaign and showcase were made possible by the California Opioid Settlements fund, which provides money to cities and counties to address the opioid crisis in California.<\/p>\n
Residents are encouraged to register online for the youth-led opioid awareness showcase, but it is not required to attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cListening to youth perspectives provides us with critical insights that traditional approaches often miss,\u201d Alison King, director of Health and Human Services, said in a statement. \u201cTheir involvement shapes forward-thinking policies grounded in the lived experiences of those most impacted by the opioid crisis, enabling the development of sustainable, community-focused solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Beach youth \u2013 and other residents \u2013 can learn about and advocate for solutions to address the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,584,23,131,133,132,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-2372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-events","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-long-beach","12":"tag-long-beach-headlines","13":"tag-long-beach-news","14":"tag-los-angeles-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}