Families honor lives lost to overdose at Iowa Capitol memorial
By Pepper Purpura
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Hundreds of faces lined the steps of the Iowa State Capitol Monday night as families gathered to remember loved ones lost to drug overdoses and call for an end to the stigma surrounding addiction.
Steps of Hope Iowa hosted its annual Iowa Overdose Awareness Day Memorial on the Capitol’s west terrace as part of International Overdose Awareness Day, observed each year on Aug. 31.
The memorial included banners filled with photographs of people who died from overdoses, a butterfly release and an opportunity for family members and friends to publicly say the names of people they had lost.
“They are sons and they are daughters. They are mothers. They are fathers,” Steps of Hope founder and president Ann Breeding told the crowd. “They mattered then. They still matter. And they always will.”
The national International Overdose Awareness Day organization described Monday’s gathering as a space for remembrance, connection and support, as well as a call to reduce stigma and treat every life with dignity and compassion.
Breeding said Steps of Hope displayed 32 national “Can You See Me Now?” banners, each containing about 150 faces. Separate banners in the center of the display featured more than 200 Iowans.
For Breeding, one of those faces is deeply personal.
Her son, Daniel, died from an overdose in 2020. Breeding said he had gone through treatment and had been doing well for more than six months before his death.
She now organizes events like Monday’s memorial to honor Daniel and other people lost to overdoses.
“It’s not a number,” Breeding said. “It’s another family. It’s another human. It’s another person who is loved beyond belief.”
She said seeing Daniel’s face displayed publicly has become one way she continues to include him in her life.
“I go to the banners, I go to the billboards, I go to the places where I know he’s going to be,” Breeding said. “And I take my selfie, because that’s my new picture.”
Families attending Monday’s memorial also released butterflies in memory of their loved ones before lining up at a microphone to share their names and stories.
“My brother Daniel, my sister Eliza and my friend Brianna,” one participant said.
Others remembered sons, daughters, siblings, parents and friends.
The remembrance extended beyond the Capitol grounds Monday night.
Breeding said the Iowa Women of Achievement Bridge, Polk County Courthouse and Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden were among the Des Moines-area landmarks illuminated purple in recognition of Overdose Awareness Day.
She said seeing those public displays sends a message to families that their loved ones are still seen.
“When someone publicly says, ‘We stand with you,’ that’s one way to start crushing the stigma,” Breeding said.
While remembrance is a major part of the organization’s work, Steps of Hope also focuses on preventing future overdose deaths.
Breeding told Monday’s crowd the group now has free naloxone dispensary boxes in roughly 26 or 27 Iowa counties, with just under 70 boxes statewide.
Naloxone, commonly sold under the brand name Narcan, can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose and restore a person’s breathing. Breeding encouraged people to carry it even if they do not personally use drugs, saying an overdose can happen unexpectedly and having the medication nearby can save a life.
Steps of Hope helped establish Iowa’s first publicly accessible naloxone dispensary box in Des Moines in 2023. The organization has since expanded the program with support from community partners and public funding.
Polk County awarded Steps of Hope a $50,000 harm-reduction grant in 2024 using money from national opioid settlements. The county later awarded the organization an additional $200,000 for 2025-26 to continue expanding its naloxone distribution and community education programs.
Breeding told the crowd Monday that every naloxone kit taken from one of the boxes should be viewed as a potential lifesaver.
“It could prevent someone like me standing in the room,” she said.
A central message throughout Monday’s memorial was that substance use disorder should be treated as a health condition rather than a moral failing.
Breeding said stigma can discourage people who use drugs and their families from asking for help.
“Stigma has got to stop because stigma is killing people,” she said. “It’s hindering people like me and my family from getting the help that we need to prevent this from happening.”
She said talking openly about substance use, recovery and overdose can help change that.
“Talking about it can save a life,” Breeding said.
For families who have already experienced a loss, Breeding said the community surrounding Steps of Hope has also become a source of support.
“We all lock arms,” she said. “And so when one of us can’t stand, because it happens often, the others are on each side and are holding you.”
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