On Wednesday, March 8, 2023 Malden Overcoming Addiction will hold their annual, #MaldenStopTheStigma day, which first originated in 2015.  A new organization at the time,  Malden Overcoming Addiction (MOA), under the guidance of President Paul Hammersley started the awareness day with the goal of putting an end to the stigma surrounding substance use disorders.

This year Malden Overcoming Addiction will bring “Stop the Stigma Day” into all of the Malden Public Schools and local private schools, Cheverus and Malden Catholic. Members of the MOA team will speak to groups of students in each school.

On Stop the Stigma Day, MOA will be asking the greater Malden community to share a special “Stop the Stigma” image on Facebook and wear a ribbon signifying the fight we are in together to stop the stigma and end addiction.  We’ll encourage people to take a “selfie” and post it to social media with the hashtag #MaldenStopTheStigma on it. Finally, the Malden High School media production team, under the direction of Jim Valente, will produce a video that will be shared on our website and via social media.

Malden Overcoming Addiction (MOA) is a non-profit community partner whose mission is to connect the community with addiction support and recovery services, remove the stigma of addiction, and fight to eliminate overdose fatalities in Malden and surrounding communities. The annual MOA “Stop The Stigma Day” is about “leveraging the collective power of Malden’s community to bring attention to the stigma surrounding addiction.” The stigma associated with substance use disorder prevents many from seeking the help, whether emotionally or physically, that they require.