Annual Fentanyl & Addictions Summit
The HIFTF Fentanyl & Addictions Summit is an annual event that brings together community members, service providers, first responders, and government leaders to address substance use, overdose prevention, and recovery.
On April 29, 2026, task force members, partners, and community gathered at Mānā Christian ʻOhana in Waimea for the 5th Annual Hawaiʻi Island Fentanyl & Addictions Summit.
This year’s summit explored the intersection of mental health and substance misuse through integrated healthcare, community response, and Native Hawaiian healing practices. The gathering emphasized collaboration across systems, generations, and communities while uplifting culturally grounded, whole-person approaches to healing, recovery, and wellbeing.
Key Activities:
Panel discussions on public safety and behavioral health, community response and action, cultural pathways to healing, lived experience and recovery, integrated healthcare, and intergenerational dialogue between kūpuna and ʻōpio, along with community resource booths.
In partnership with the Kealakehe High School Media team, students helped capture the day through photo and video storytelling.
On May 6, 2025, students from Kohala High School, Connections Public Charter School, and Kamehameha Schools joined task force members, partners, and community leaders at Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium for the 4th Annual HIFTF Fentanyl & Addictions Summit.
ʻŌpio Rising was a youth-driven, intergenerational gathering that explored how behavioral health and substance use affect individuals and communities, with a strong emphasis on prevention, resilience, leadership, and storytelling as a way to foster healing and reduce stigma. Led largely by young adults, the event elevated youth voices, strengthened cross-generational connections, and empowered ʻōpio with knowledge, purpose, and a deep sense of kuleana to support a safer, healthier Hawaiʻi Island.
Key Activities:
ʻŌpio-led Panel Discussion, Resource Fair, Voices of Recovery Gallery Walk, and Community Storytelling
3rd Annual Fentanyl & Addictions Summit
On August 5th, 2024 the 3rd Annual Hawaiʻi Fentanyl and Addictions Summit brought together 177 community members, leaders, and frontline professionals united by a shared commitment to save lives and address the opioid crisis impacting Hawaiʻi Island and beyond. The strong post-summit engagement, with 116 attendees completing surveys, reflected both the urgency of this work and the community’s investment in lasting solutions.
The summit reached communities most affected by substance use, with Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander participants representing the largest group of attendees, alongside diverse partners from across sectors. This broad representation reinforced the importance of culturally grounded, community-led responses to addiction in Hawaiʻi.
Key Activities:
Local Data & Statistics Report, Stories of Loss & Recovery, Volunteer Panel Discussion, Bowl of Light Awards
