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Christopher Abert remembered as selfless advocate for drug users

By George Hale

Posted September 30, 2024

Photos of Abert on display at a celebration of life. (George Hale, WFIU/WTIU News)

Friends and loved ones gathered in Bloomington over the weekend to mourn the founder of a group advocating for more humane treatment of drug users.

The service for Indiana Recovery Alliance founder Christopher Abert, who died earlier this month, brought visitors to Bloomington from across the country.

Among other services, the alliance offers needle-exchange services to drug users with the goal of reducing transmission of bloodbourne diseases. Abert served as the group’s director until 2019, and he went on to found other likeminded organizations.

Speakers at Saturday's service at First United Church remembered Abert as a selfless advocate for drug users and other marginalized groups in Bloomington and beyond.

"He didn't stop, no matter how hard it was on him, to give and give and give," Indiana Recovery Alliance board member Alicia Suarez said during the eulogy.

"He loved and reached out and didn't cancel people who were not abstinent. And there was no judgment. There was no expectations of anything, and that is hard. And he's done that for years. Giving love with no expectations is exhausting, and he did."

<p></iframe> Abert lived in Bloomington, where he ran programs providing unused syringes to drug users with the goal of reducing disease transmission. A gathering in Abert’s memory is planned for Saturday, Sept. 28 from 1-4 p.m. at the Winslow Woods park shelter on South Highland Avenue in Bloomington.</p>

During the service, volunteers assembled dozens of Naloxone kits including new syringes that’ll be distributed in Abert’s honor. Friends said that was Abert's idea, so people attending the service would have something to do with their hands as they listened.

Each kit included a note: "This dose of Naloxone is brought to you by Chris Abert."

Speakers at Saturday's service said Abert introduced Hoosiers to the strategy of harm reduction. They pointed out that this year, deaths from opioid use declined in Indiana.

(This story will be updated.)