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Gabriel Challenge urges 36 days of community action to counter fentanyl losses in Spokane
Summary
Organizer Katara Johnson Jones described the Gabriel Challenge — a 36-day community engagement effort starting on Mother's Day and ending on Father's Day — and urged neighbors to map local crisis resources, show up in public spaces, and build recovery supports after her son Gabriel died of a fentanyl overdose.
"Hi. I'm Katara Johnson Jones, and this is the Gabriel Challenge," Johnson Jones told attendees, framing the initiative as "a wake up call wrapped in love." She described the challenge as a 36-day effort to "educate, engage, and empower" families and neighborhoods, beginning on Mother's Day and ending on Father's Day.
Why it matters: Johnson Jones said fentanyl is killing local residents and that community connection, not only clinical services, is essential to long-term recovery support. She read a passage from a letter her son wrote describing a lack of sober friends and community supports: "Love isn't enough when it stays behind walls." She urged the room to become "the kind of city where connection replaces crisis."
At the community mapping session, Johnson Jones asked participants to focus the first week on services for people in crisis and active use and to reserve deeper conversation about detox and long-term recovery for a subsequent meeting. She explained a working definition used for the mapping work: crisis refers to a moment when an individual is at immediate risk of harm from substance use or mental state, including overdose, severe withdrawal, psychosis or suicidal thoughts.
Johnson Jones called for coordinated, place-based resources instead of creating redundant services. “We don’t have to start something new,” she said; instead, she urged improving and connecting what already exists so people are not forced to travel between multiple sites for treatment, counseling and other supports.
She also set ground rules for the mapping conversation: a judgment-free environment, solutions focus, assuming positive intent, respect for cultural differences (noting words can have multiple meanings across communities), mental and physical presence, and one person speaking at a time. Johnson Jones framed those norms as protections for families who have lost loved ones and for people currently in crisis.
No formal actions or policy changes were taken during the session. The Gabriel Challenge organizer asked attendees to participate in neighborhood mapping and follow-up sessions, and she encouraged people to "show up in real life" by checking on neighbors and attending local meetings.
The session proceeded from education by law enforcement to community-led mapping exercises; Johnson Jones said future sessions will examine detox options, long-term recovery supports and service navigation.
