Aileen Lovejoy is the mom of a son who suffered with the disease of addiction for 20+yrs and died on May 12th, 2013, Mother's day, from an overdose 2 days following his birthday. She co-facilitates the HALO 18 (Healing After a Loss from an Overdose) Grief Group in Worcester with Deb since Dec 2015. Aileen and Deb founded the group together and provide peer-to-peer support for anyone who has lost a loved one to substance use disorder. Aileen volunteers as a facilitator/group leader for grief support at the Carriage House, Worcester, is a member of Team Sharing-MA, an online grief support group for parents who have experienced a similar loss. She is a Peer Grief Support Specialist providing outreach support and she is a Peer Grief Ally, providing one on one support to those who have loved one to the disease of addiction and is a member of the SADOD.ORG MA Peer Grief Helper Network. The group is made up of other facilitators who provide peer to peer support and is hosted by the SADOD Peer Support Community Partners. Aileen is also a member of the Worcester DA's Opioid Task Force and a past member of the Blackstone Valley Opioid Task Force. She is a past member of the City of Worcester Committee for the International Overdose Awareness Vigil and was involved with the Memorial Stone in memory of those lost to the opioid epidemic, placed at Peace Park in Worcester, supported by the City of Worcester.
