The Community Empowerment Council joined prevention leaders, public health partners, and community organizations from across Arkansas for the Stop Overdose Summit 2025—a statewide gathering focused on reversing the overdose crisis through education, collaboration, and evidence-based strategies.
This year’s summit brought together experts in harm reduction, mental health, substance-use prevention, recovery services, and community outreach. Attendees explored current trends in overdose data, discussed innovative approaches for reaching high-risk populations, and strengthened partnerships that support safer, healthier communities.
Throughout the summit, participants learned about effective overdose-response tools, including Naloxone training, community education models, cross-sector collaboration, and integrating prevention messaging into schools and local organizations. Breakout sessions highlighted the importance of early intervention, building community capacity, and using data to inform prevention strategies at the state and local level.
CEC was honored to attend, connect with statewide partners, gather new resources, and identify opportunities to strengthen overdose-prevention initiatives within the communities we serve.
Together, Arkansas continues to take meaningful steps toward saving lives, supporting families, and building communities that are informed, empowered, and resilient.