When someone dies from an overdose, families are often left to navigate not only profound grief, but also the immediate financial and practical challenges that follow. Additionally, social stigma and bias worsen an already devastating loss, and adequate support remains limited.
HALO Initiatives was created to fill that gap. As a community-based organization, HALO provides direct financial support to families impacted by overdose loss, working to interrupt cycles of generational trauma, strengthen grief support, and invest in communities most affected by fatal overdose.
HALO formally launched in January 2025, but its foundation was laid in 2021, when co-founder Elsa Gomes Bondlow and I began partnering to cover funeral expenses for families after overdose loss. At the time, I served as Policy Director for the City of Boston’s Office of Recovery Services, while Elsa directed the Social Equity Access Fund. Over the following years, we independently fielded and fulfilled 16 family requests while advocating for opioid settlement dollars to prioritize grieving families.
Our advocacy extended beyond direct assistance. In 2023, Elsa and I co-wrote an op-ed for The Boston Globe and appeared on WBUR’s Radio Boston, making the case that opioid litigation dollars should pay for funerals and support families after a fatal overdose. In 2024, the City of Boston committed municipal opioid settlement funds to families bereaved by overdose. HALO and the Boston Public Health Commission co-created and now manage what became the Family Overdose Support Fund.
Building on this momentum, we partnered with Health Resources in Action to apply for RIZE Massachusetts Mosaic Family Resilience Grant to expand access to support in communities across Massachusetts.
Born from personal experiences with generational overdose loss and the recognition that existing systems of care are insufficient, HALO helps families cover funeral expenses, health services, childcare, and past-due rent and utilities. Eligible Boston families can access $5,000 to $7,500, and partnerships now in development will expand access across Massachusetts. Alongside financial assistance, our team connects personally with every family and refers them to resources that help mitigate the intergenerational trauma that follows an overdose death.
This work took on added meaning for me in 2024, when my mother died by suicidal overdose. Even as a resourced public health professional, I struggled to navigate support. HALO exists so that other survivors of overdose bereavement can reach grief services and meet basic needs without that struggle.
The reality is that the system families need does not yet fully exist. HALO is building it, strategically pairing public opioid abatement funds with private philanthropy to create the more coordinated network of care these families deserve. At the intersection of targeted direct service and policy innovation, HALO is emerging as a national leader in reimagining how communities support overdose bereavement.
In the coming years, HALO will continue to deepen partnerships with foundations and private donors to expand this work, and will seek out communities, cities, and states looking to put their opioid litigation funds toward family support and community healing.
If you’re interested in partnering with HALO — through thought collaboration, funding, or community engagement — we welcome the opportunity to connect. Together, we can build a stronger, more compassionate system of care for families navigating overdose loss.
Brendan Little is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of HALO Initiatives