Community groups and county officials say outreach and harm-reduction efforts are helping connect people with resources.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Friday marks Black Balloon Day, a national day of remembrance honoring people who have died from drug overdoses and supporting families affected by addiction.
The day is also meant to create space for communities to talk openly about addiction and connect people with resources that may help prevent future deaths.
In Erie County, leaders say those efforts may be starting to make a difference.
Christopher Harzynski, founder of Creative Restorations Inc., runs an organization dedicated to helping people battling addiction. Inside his office, he said much of that work focuses on care management and helping people meet their basic needs.
“We like to try to provide folks with food, clothing, hygiene, non medical, transportation, rental payment assistance, things like that. And we also provide harm reduction supplies for our community,” he said.
For Harzynski, the mission is also deeply personal.
“I’m in recovery myself. I’ve been clean since February of 2008,” he said.
On a day dedicated to remembering lives lost to addiction, Harzynski said he is thinking about those close to him who died from overdoses and the reason he started the organization.
“I lost two close friends, June of 2023 to overdose. I we had four people die in a 24 hour period, two of them were friends of mine,” he said.
Work from organizations like Creative Restorations, along with outreach efforts from Erie County, is part of a broader effort to reduce overdose deaths. County officials say lived experience plays a key role in connecting with people struggling with addiction.
“Peers and people who have gone through that journey can really speak to what is actually needed in the community,” said Zachary Kay, a family coordinator for substance use disorder with the Erie County Department of Health.
County data shows overdose deaths have been declining for two straight years.
According to the Erie County Department of Health, overdose deaths totaled 436 in 2023 before dropping to 359 in 2024 and falling again to 243 in 2025.
Officials say those improvements are partly due to changes in how outreach is targeted.
“We’ve really shifted how we target our outreach based on what we’re seeing in the community,” said Jordon Frank, a project coordinator for substance use disorder with the Erie County Department of Health.
County leaders say the goal is to keep people connected to resources and continue pushing the numbers in the right direction.
Erie County’s Black Balloon Day event is taking place Friday evening and will continue until 8 p.m., as organizers work to remember those lost and keep the conversation around addiction going.