Family Guidance Center observes Black Balloon Day

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Family Guidance Center is hosting the annual Black Balloon Day Memorial. 

Black Balloon Day is celebrated annually on March 6. Families and loved ones gather to remember those who have lost their lives to a drug overdose, as it remains the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, according to the Overdose Lifeline. 

Family Guidance Center has placed a Drug Epidemic Memorial banner in their main office, located at 724 N. 22nd St., displaying 6,600 names of people who lost their lives to substance overdose. The banner is a replica of the national Drug Epidemic Memorial banner in Washington, D.C.

Eric Stone, a substance use counselor at Family Guidance Center, explained that the number of people who overdosed in the past year is shocking.

"If we look at how many people's lives were lost last year in the United States, it's close to 90,000 people," Stone said. "That's enough people to wipe out St. Joe and the surrounding communities. So it just kind of opens up my eyes a little bit to say 'that could be this whole town gone.'"

Stone says that breaking the stigma around substance abuse is crucial to helping those affected.

"Addiction doesn't define the individual," Stone said. "This is something that they're living with, it's a disease and it's an illness, and I think that the more people that can get on board with that, the more people that we can help."

Signs and black balloons are displayed at the N. 22nd St. location, as well as at Substance Use Disorders Services, located at 901 Felix St.