Snohomish County’s 10th annual addiction vigil is a ‘night to remember’

Published 6:30 am Monday, August 31, 2026

EVERETT — The smiling faces of loved ones lost to addiction brought tears to the eyes of attendees for the Snohomish County Overdose Awareness Day event Thursday in Everett.

Overdose Awareness Day was Monday and people came together at the Snohomish County Campus on Thursday for the 10th annual “A Night to Remember, A Time to Act.” in honor of the day. Debbie Warfield and Cathi Lee started the event after losing their sons to addiction.

Lindsey Arrington, founder of Hope Soldiers — an organization that helps those struggling with addiction into treatment — later joined as an event organizer.

Arrington, along with Hope Soldiers, helped Everett resident Madison Wrobel, 35, who made the event’s opening speech.

“I had known Lindsey in the worst days,” Wrobel said in an interview after the ceremony. “I had introduced her to some drugs and we had obviously lost contact because she got sober and I continued to use.”

Wrobel struggled with heroin and meth addiction for 12 years, and more than eight years ago, she ran into Arrington again, she said.

“She had called my parents. They set up an intervention. She got me a plane ticket and she got me a scholarship,” she said. “I had no funds. I had no resources. I had kind of pretty much checked out and thought that was what my life was going to be. So, I got on a plane and I went to Texas.”

Wrobel was in treatment for four months and she built a life in Texas, she said.

“I knew I wanted to work in recovery. I was so clear about that,” Wrobel said. “Infinite Recovery gave me a chance and I started as just an entry-level tech, and I’ve worked there now for almost eight years. So, I’m the VP of Admissions and Sales.”

She moved back to Everett almost a year ago. She’ll be nine years sober in January.

“I’m back with my family again,” Wrobel said. “To be back here and not be in a place of such hopelessness and despair has been really really special.”

Wrobel’s father, Gordon Ferrell, attended the event with Wrobel.

“It’s like the bad movie is over and the good times are ahead,” he said. “She’s alive and she’s here, and she’s prospering, growing, getting healthier every day. And just to have her home, you know, clear-minded.”

Usually, the event includes a series of speakers or perhaps a panel. This year, in honor of the event’s 10th anniversary, organizers took time to remember where the event started and who was lost over the past 10 years.

“This is a bittersweet moment,” Arrington said during the ceremony. “While we have made significant strides, we have so many more resources today than we did 10 years ago, so many people have been saved, there still are so many people we’ve lost.”

Organizers shared a video with the faces of those who had been lost. Attendees could also hang physical pictures next to the stage.

The event also included a resource fair with dozens of organizations providing information and guidance. Finally, attendees lit candles as part of a vigil, filling the table they sat on with flickering light.

“We cannot stop here because families are still losing their children, people are still dying and fentanyl has changed the landscape of addiction,” Warfield said during the ceremony. “Tonight is our night to remember, but tomorrow, and every day after, that must be our time to act.”

Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; Bluesky: @btayokay.bsky.social