SOPEN honours lives lost with permanent memorial art installation

Hamilton community members gathered to honour lives lost and advocate for a brighter future in overdose prevention

Two weeks ago, the Substance Overdose Prevention and Education Network held a drop-in butterfly art installation in honour of International Overdose Awareness Day to honour lives lost to overdose.

The initial gathering to create the origami butterflies occurred on Aug. 22, 2024 at 12:30 p.m.. The memorial was fully assembled and commemorated on Sept. 26, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 541 Eatery & Exchange in Hamilton.

International Overdose Awareness Day takes place every year on August 31 with the goals of destigmatizing discussion and action about drug-related death and raising awareness about substance use. For SOPEN, the idea of a public memorial originated from a deep sense of grief over the rising death toll due to drug poisoning in Hamilton.

This year, SOPEN worked collaboratively with members from the REcreate Outreach Art Studio, Positive Health Network and Hamilton Public health to create a permanent art installation.

The memorial is made of 1,051 origami butterflies that represents the lives lost to drug poisoning in Hamilton since 2015. Kayla Crabtree, co-founder of SOPEN, shared the symbolism and significance of the butterfly. “The butterfly represents transformation and although [these] folks may not be here on earth with us now, they're often on a journey to something more beautiful,” Crabtree explained.

The memorial was a community effort. On Sept. 26, local Hamilton residents came to create and paste origami butterflies to a canvas. “It was a way to highlight the amount of grief for the amount of lives lost but also a beautiful way to bring together the community of people who are grieving the loss of all those lives,” said Crabtree.

In addition to honouring those lost, the butterfly installation serves as a reminder of the ongoing opioid crisis in Hamilton, where overdose rates have far surpassed the provincial average. Crabtree said she hopes the memorial will inspire action and raise awareness about the importance of harm reduction services, which help save lives by providing support to those struggling with substance use.

"It [the opioid crisis] does impact us all .... and it's going to drastically impact us with the closure of CTS [consumption and treatment services],” said Crabtree.

Supervised drug consumption sites are spaces that allow individuals to safely use drugs while being monitored by trained staff to prevent overdose and aid in overdose recovery. The Ministry of Health decided to discontinue its funding for CTS and safe consumption sites across the province and they will be closed by March 2025.

"But without those services in place, it's going to be everyday community members, parks, parking lots and public businesses who are going to experience the traumatic side of the drug poisoning crisis," said Crabtree. "So for me . . . this memorial continues the conversation about this to keep these services in place that make such a massive difference."

The memorial installation at 541 Eatery & Exchange will remain on display as a permanent tribute to those lost and a reminder of the need for ongoing advocacy for harm reduction. Crabtree said she hopes that by seeing the butterflies, more people will engage with the issue and understand the importance of services like supervised consumption sites and naloxone distribution.

“Reduction is a broad spectrum of different services with the goal of supporting people where they are at until they decide to make a decision,” said Crabtree. "Not everyone uses drugs their whole life, but if they die the one time they use it, then they never get a chance to try and be sober."

The memorial will continue to inspire conversation and advocacy around harm reduction in Hamilton, serving as a lasting symbol of the community’s grief but also its commitment to action. Those who wish to visit the installation and pay their respects can do so at 541 Eatery & Exchange, where the butterflies will remain on display to honour those lost to the opioid crisis.