Adam's Light candlelight vigil remembers victims of drug overdoses and fentanyl

BALTIMORE – Drug addiction and fentanyl poisoning are a deadly combination that has destroyed so many families.

This weekend, one family is helping to put an end to this crisis.

Adam's Light, a nonprofit organization that helps the community, is run by his sister, Shelley Debelius, and his mother, Esther Shack-Seivert.

“We are currently in a crisis with fentanyl in Baltimore. Heroin no longer exists. It is fentanyl,” says Debelius.

She lost her younger brother Adam to a fentanyl overdose in September 2021.

“Two weeks before his death, he started using drugs again. Unfortunately, what he thought was heroin turned out to be fentanyl, and that killed him,” says Debelius.

Adam's death destroyed the family.

“He died instantly. He still had the needle in his arm. There was no hope at all of reviving him,” says Shack-Seivert.

After Adam's untimely death, the family created Adam's Light in 2022 to inspire users to follow a path that avoids death and destruction.

“I wanted to start a nonprofit in his name to help those who may not have that family stability and let them know that people care about them and that there are people who care about them,” Debelius says.

A candlelight vigil will be held Saturday night at Honeygo Park from 7:00pm to 9:00pm to remember Adam and other drug overdose victims. The hope is to save lives and put an end to the fentanyl crisis.

“I just think we really need to be more mindful and not discriminate against anyone who is suffering from addiction. Be kind to them and try to help them,” says Shack-Seivert.

“There’s nothing like this in Baltimore, so we’re kind of the first to do it,” says Debelius.

Link to map of overdose response programs in Maryland