В Уобёрне открыли памятную комнату Майклу Хиггинсу и представили поэтический фестиваль о преодолении зависимостей

WOBURN - On Thursday, Sept. 3, from 6 - 7:30 p.m., Woburn’s Community Resource Center located at 400 West Cummings Park Suite 6350 in Woburn, will be hosting its first local poetry showcase and room dedication in honor of Michael Higgins. Higgins co-developed HEAT (Heroin Education Awareness Task Force), which is a community initiative designed to combat the opioid and heroin epidemic by educating both parents and youth and connecting struggling individuals with voluntary treatment. Samantha Stone, Assistant to the Mayor for Community Outreach and Communications, said that last fall she had connected with the Woburn Cultural Council and submitted for a grant to do artistic events for the Community Resource Center. The poetry showcase is one of the events that they are financially supporting. She noted, “We’re really appreciative of the small grant they’ve given us.” The poetry showcase is an opportunity for residents to submit their original poetry. The theme was about recovery, whether that means recovering from grief or loss, recovering from addiction, recovering from mental health challenges, or recovering from challenging family relationships. It could be about anything. The poetry showcase will feature the works of 16 poets, which will be showcased in frames around the center. Some of the poets will be reading their pieces. Stone commented, “It’s a really wonderful opportunity to come together and celebrate strength and resilience and celebrate the poets who have submitted work for us.” All of the pieces are very different, and each individual sharing their work has different backgrounds from one another, as well as different passions and experiences. The room dedication in honor of Higgins is because of his work with addiction treatment and commitment to programs that he’s run. The Community Resource Center thought the poetry showcase was the perfect place to honor his talents, commitment, and hard work that he gave the city and community. HEAT is something that was created with the goal of rethinking how to support and change the lives of those who have significant drug addiction. It helped people identify, be identified, and get treatment. Stone stated, “We couldn’t think of a better way to honor someone who was all about resources and support and helping people.” The evening will be fun. There are some heavy topics, but it’s important to celebrate resilience, hope and strength. There will be some readings, a short meaningful dedication to Higgins, and food. It’s really about celebrating each other and coming together as a community. The night is about telling important stories that will hopefully inspire others. A selection committee chose the 16 pieces. They didn’t know who submitted what, and each of the 16 poems is unique in its own way. Stone is excited to hear from the poets and get a chance to shake their hands and celebrate them, and she is glad to have the opportunity to dedicate the room to Higgins. She said, “Those two things coming together make for what we hope to be a really inspiring evening, and I love having an opportunity to bring people together in this way.”