WALKER — Fentanyl has steadily become a major concern for both law enforcement and families in recent years, with many families directly impacted by its deadly presence.
A Community Healing Summit will be held June 20–21 at the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office training facility in Walker. The summit is designed for families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl overdoses and marks the first event of its kind in the area, organized by a local peer-to-peer student group.
The Livingston Parish SADD — Students Against Destructive Decisions — visits elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the parish each month to speak with students about making positive choices and avoiding vapes, drugs, and alcohol.
The summit is a two-day event focused on parents, grandparents, and other adults who have lost loved ones to fentanyl, according to Dylan Ivy, executive director of Livingston Parish SADD.
“It’s a little bit of hope and a little bit of healing,” he said.
Registration for the free event, which begins Friday, June 20 at 6 p.m. and continues Saturday, June 21 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., is currently underway.
Ivy said the idea for the summit began several years ago when local SADD students became “fired up” about doing something to combat the fentanyl crisis. At the time, the group launched a campaign that included billboards, yard signs, T-shirts, and public service announcements.
They also hosted a town hall event featuring Dan Schneider, best known for the 2020 Netflix documentary The Pharmacist, who shared his story of losing his 22-year-old son to fentanyl and his pursuit of justice against the New Orleans-area pill mill doctor responsible.
Following that event, Ivy said it became clear that there was a real need and desire for more community support.
“When we started getting feedback from the community, we started getting all of these loved ones and parents of kids or the adults who had died, that their parents and families were still here,” Ivy said.
The summit has been more than a year in the making. After extensive community input and with support from the Florida Parishes Human Services Authority, organizers were able to secure funding and finalize plans.
During the event, participants will hear from expert presenters on how to manage grief, turn personal loss into advocacy, and help others who are also suffering. A range of resources and support professionals will be available on-site for those who need someone to talk to.
While the event is designed for families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl, Ivy emphasized that it is for adults only, not school-age children.
“One of the workshops is going to be on how to articulate your story and it in words, and how to work with them on taking some of that grief and that loss and turning it into action,” Ivy said.
Fentanyl epidemic
Law enforcement agencies like LPSO are seeing an alarming trend: it’s not just pure fentanyl causing harm. Other drugs such as marijuana and even vape products are increasingly laced with the deadly opioid, often without users’ knowledge.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It is now the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the United States.
In October 2024, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, along with several federal agencies, helped seize tens of thousands of fentanyl pills and methamphetamine during a major drug bust in Albany. Other local agencies are also making what they describe as “historic” seizures.
Steven Hofer, special agent in charge of the DEA New Orleans division, said fentanyl is a major threat in every community throughout the U.S. These large drug busts locally are evidence of the DEA (and other agencies) focusing more on battling the crisis that fentanyl presents.
The DEA urges people to become educated about the dangers of fentanyl and how “One pill can kill.”
For those interested in learning more about SADD’s upcoming summit for affected families, contact Dylan Ivy at (225) 409-4844 or divy@lpsadd.org. To register for the event, click here.
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