Past SUPHR events
August & September 2024
Always Beside Us
For Overdose Awareness Day and National Recovery Month, SUPHR hosted two FREE events to honor the lives of those we have lost, reduce stigma, and come together as a community. The series title Always Beside Us has dual meanings: a reminder of our community’s support for one another, as well as acknowledging those we have lost that will never truly leave our side.
August 2024
Back to School Event
The PhillyLIFTs team hosted their annual Back to School Giveaway event on Saturday, August 10 at the Christy Rec Center. The event included bouncy houses, food and music, free back to school supplies, health material and resources, a variety of vendors, and so much more.
June 2024
Family Day with the Philly Goat Project
The Philly HEALs program, SUPHR’s bereavement services team, partnered with the Philly Goat Project to host a free family event where attendees got to meet, pet and learn all about goats. About 30 people came to the PGP farm in Northwest Philly the afternoon of June 9. Connecting with animals and nature is a powerful tool for promoting healing and overall mental and emotional well-being, which made this event with PGP a great community partnership for SUPHR.
September 2023
National Recovery Month Art + Open Mic Series
For National Recovery Month, our Philly HEALs team honored the people we have lost to overdose in Philadelphia by hosting a month of art and creative expression. We asked the pubic to submit artwork (including writings) with various themes related to drug use, grief, and mental health. This could be artwork they made themselves, or art they had that was made by loved ones lost to drugs.
All submissions were included in an art show that traveled to 4 different Philly neighborhoods throughout September. Before being moved, each location also hosted an open mic night where folks could express themselves through song, poetry, or by sharing memories about their loved ones and/or recovery journeys.
December 2022
Holiday Giveaway Event
The PhillyLIFTs team holds community giveaways and celebrations in partnership with organizations like the Motivated Community Resource Center. In 2022, the team held North Philly Family Day and the Holiday Community Giveaway. Both events had food, activities and games for children, and giveaways with supplies for babies and children. These events are open to all families, not just those enrolled in the program, see the calendar for any upcoming events.
September 2022
Overdose Memorial Garden
On August 31, 2022 (International Overdose Awareness and Memorial Day), the City launched a pop-up overdose memorial garden outside of the Municipal Services Building in Center City, Philadelphia. More than 1,200 purple flowers were planted to recognize the Philadelphians lost to substance use. The goals of the project were to create a space for bereaved survivors that humanizes people lost to substance use, and increases public awareness about the overdose crisis, which claimed the lives of more than 1200 Philadelphians in 2021.
Throughout the month, community members attended events in the garden, learned about substance use resources and supports, and tagged flowers in honor of a lost loved one. By the end of the 31 days, more than 575 flowers had been marked with names by bereaved survivors.