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Lee Umphrey is president and CEO of Eastern Maine Development Corp. Doug Dunbar is EMDC’s recovery and re-entry workforce specialist.

Hope and connections. Today, they’re needed more than ever, but often seem distant and out of reach in this uncertain time. For individuals in recovery from substance use disorder, hope and connections can make the difference between stability and relapse; between health and overdose. For some, it’s a matter of life and death.

September is National Recovery Month. It’s never been more important. As a result of the coronavirus and the way it’s changed our lives and society, the opioid crisis is intensifying across Maine and throughout the nation. Deaths from overdose are on pace to set another tragic record. They declined for the first time in 2018, but rose again last year and are now hitting new highs.