City to Host Paint the Parks Purple Event at Country Park Sept. 1

The City of Greensboro's Community Safety Department (CSD) will host Paint the Parks Purple overdose awareness and prevention event from 4-7 pm, Tuesday, September 1, at Country Park - Shelter 4, 3802 Jaycee Park Dr.

The Paint the Parks Purple event aims to raise awareness of overdoses, share harm reduction strategies to prevent them, and let individuals and families struggling with substance use know that help, hope, and support are available.

"We hope to reduce the stigma of substance abuse, which is a disease, so that more people reach out for help," said Mary Houser, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) coordinator with the CSD, who came up with Paint the Parks Purple. "We also want to encourage people to carry Naloxone in their purses and backpacks. You never know when you could be in a position to save someone's life."

The event is open to all. The Guilford County Public Health Department and other local resources will be on hand, as well as food trucks, music, and raffles.

The purple ribbons that were put up in Country Park in mid-August will remain there through early September in observance of International Overdose Awareness Day and National Recovery Month. This is the second year that Houser has organized a Paint the Parks Purple campaign; last year purple ribbons were displayed in LeBauer Park.