Your Community Cares
Annual Vigil

In March 2014, Natick hosted its first vigil to remember those we have lost to addiction, and it proved to be an important opportunity for community members to connect with each other around their loss and their loving memories of deceased friends and family members who lost their battles with addiction. The stigma surrounding addiction can make the grieving process a particularly lonely experience, but the vigil gave community members a time and place to come together in solidarity to remember the deceased, to support their families and friends, and to remember that addiction does not discriminate. No community, family or individual is immune to it, and the entire community is impacted each time we lose a life to addiction.
The next vigil was held in December 2014, at which point it became an annual event hosted each December. While the holiday season can be a time of great joy, too many families face the holiday season with an empty chair at their dinner tables because of a life taken too early by substance use, so it seemed like an even more important time of year for the Natick community to come together to support each other. The vigil is led each year by the Interfaith Clergy Association of Natick and is hosted by the First Congregational Church of Natick, which opens its doors to the public and to Natick residents of all faith backgrounds to come together for this somber event of remembrance.
The 2020 vigil will take place on Sunday, December 13th, at 7:00 PM via Zoom. Participants can register for the event here. Participants are invited to share names and photos of loved ones they’d like to remember for a video that will run during the event. Learn more on the event registration page. If you have questions about submitting a name or photo, please email natick180@natickma.org. For media requests or event sponsorship opportunities, please contact Katie Sugarman at csugarman@natickma.org.
Purple Flag Project

In honor of International Overdose Awareness Day, members of SOAR Natick and The Journey bereavement group came together in August 2018 to plant more than 1,800 purple flags in remembrance of the individuals who died in Massachusetts in 2017 due to opioid overdose. Located at the First Congregational Church of Natick at the corner of Routes 27 and 135 in downtown Natick, this visible reminder of the toll of the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts reverberated throughout the community. Red flags represented Natick residents who died due to overdose in 2017, including the children of several Natick parents who helped organize the display.
In September 2018, Natick High School hosted the purple flag project, inviting every student and faculty member to place a flag in front of the high school as part of a school assembly about addiction and mental health. Unfortunately, the number of flags had to be increased in number as the confirmed death toll from 2017 in Massachusetts rose. But this moving event, coupled with a presentation by Cory Palazzi about his own struggle with opioid addiction and recovery, made a lasting impression on the Natick High School community as well as the thousands of Natick residents who passed the display.
The Opioid Project: Changing Perceptions through Art and Storytelling

In September 2018, SOAR Natick, The Journey, and The Reddish Foundation came together to create and display a powerful art exhibit at the Morse Institute Library as part of The Opioid Project: Changing Perceptions Through Art and Storytelling. This interactive art and storytelling project was founded and is facilitated by Boston-based artist Nancy Marks and physician and Health Story Collaborative founder Annie Brewster. The process of creating and displaying this moving exhibit intends to support those personally touched by the opioid epidemic and create community dialogue about stigma and the costs of the ongoing crisis. The project goals include:
- Increasing public awareness about substance use disorder and addiction.
- Decreasing stigma by fostering and creating space for community dialogue.
- Contributing to policy change to increase access to mental health services and substance use treatment.
- Supporting those who those in recovery, first responders, caregivers and those grieving the death of a loved one by providing space for story sharing and creative expression.
The Opioid Project features recorded audio narrations by the individuals who created each piece of art that can be heard by visiting the Opioid Project website or by dialing the phone number displayed with each piece in the exhibit.
To learn more about the Natick Opioid Project display or to get information on how to sponsor an exhibition of this traveling display, contact SOAR Natick.