Hundreds of people gathered at noon in the middle of the Interstate 5 Bridge over Labor Day weekend, joining hands across the entire span to mark the 25th anniversary of Hands Across the Bridge, an annual tradition that brings together recovery communities from Oregon and Washington. Participants recited the Serenity Prayer together as the crowd stretched across the bridge structure connecting Portland and Vancouver, while the celebration kicked off National Recovery Month for the region.
The gathering traces back to 2001, when Patty Katz and Louise Wedge started Hands Across the Bridge, according to KOIN. The two women, both former heroin users who met working at Portland's Hooper Detox Center, launched the tradition after standing atop a Columbia River bridge at sunrise to celebrate being, as they put it, on top of the bridge rather than living under it in active addiction, according to Central City Concern. The first official gathering on the I-5 Bridge in 2002 drew roughly 200 participants, a crowd that has since grown into a bi-state tradition drawing thousands of attendees across the Pacific Northwest each year.
Portland-area participants this year met at the Jantzen Beach Holiday Inn before heading to the bridge, while Washington community members began their portion of the day at Esther Short Park. Both locations offered food, vendors, and speakers sharing personal recovery stories, the station's report notes. After the bridge gathering, the crowd returned to Esther Short Park for an afternoon celebration built around this year's theme: Recovery is for everyone. Every person, every family, every community.
Speakers and Drummers Set the Tone
Featured speakers this year included Oregon state representatives Rob Nosse, Tawna Sanchez, and Lamar Wise, along with U.S. Representative Maxine Dexter, per the same account. Also on the speaker list were CTUIR Board of Trustees representative Sierra Quaempts and human rights advocate Alex Greene. Medicine Wheel Recovery Services, a St. Helens-based organization, led participants with hand drummers during the event, according to the article.
Hands Across the Bridge aims to inspire people to challenge addiction stigmas and speak out on issues facing the recovery community, building awareness around the movement year over year. Louise Wedge passed away in December 2019, and Patty Katz died of liver cancer in June 2021, with leadership of the project passing to a volunteer board of directors, according to Central City Concern. Both women spent decades as certified drug counselors in Portland and Vancouver after overcoming their own long battles with substance use.
Recovery Advocacy Meets Shifting Oregon Policy
This year's anniversary lands at a pivotal moment for Oregon's approach to addiction. On September 1, 2024, Oregon House Bill 4002 took effect, rolling back parts of 2020's Ballot Measure 110 by reinstating misdemeanor criminal penalties for small-scale drug possession while establishing county deflection programs meant to divert people into treatment, according to OPB. State lawmakers passed the bill in early 2024 to address public drug use and rising overdoses while attempting to preserve pathways to voluntary treatment.
Meanwhile, provisional health data offers encouraging news. Oregon drug overdose deaths dropped sharply in 2024 and 2025, falling nearly 25% from 1,534 deaths in 2024 to approximately 1,100 in 2025, according to the Oregon Health Authority. Fentanyl and methamphetamine still account for more than 90% of reported drug overdose deaths statewide, even as the overall death toll declines. State health officials note that non-fatal overdoses remain at historically elevated levels, with Oregon recording 4,193 inpatient overdose-related hospitalizations and 10,365 emergency department visits for drug overdoses in 2024, figures that exclude community overdoses reversed using naloxone.
Alcohol dependency remains a parallel concern for regional treatment providers. Oregon's alcohol-induced death rate peaked in 2022 at 25 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to Willamette Week, and the state has historically recorded higher alcohol-related mortality rates than the national average.
The Bridge Itself Is Changing Too
The Interstate 5 Bridge that hosts the annual hand-holding ceremony is facing its own transformation. The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program is planning a $6 billion to $7.5 billion project to replace the aging twin spans between Portland and Vancouver, a project that will feature an expanded, modernized multi-use path for pedestrians and bicyclists, according to BikePortland. The current twin spans rank among the oldest major interstate highway bridges on the West Coast, meaning future anniversaries of Hands Across the Bridge could eventually unfold on an entirely rebuilt crossing.
On the Washington side, Clark County nonprofit Thrive2Survive, established in 2018 by founder Charles Hanset Jr., partners with Hands Across the Bridge to organize the Vancouver walk and host its afternoon community resource fair at Esther Short Park, according to the Camas-Washougal Post-Record. The organization focuses on peer support, outreach, and resource navigation for people experiencing addiction and homelessness. National Recovery Month itself dates back to 1989, when it was established by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under the name Treatment Works! Month before expanding into today's broader observance of mental health and addiction recovery awareness every September.
