BIDDEFORD — Dozens of people crowded into a room in the Second Congregational Church to discuss an initiative in Saco, Biddeford and Old Orchard Beach to fight opioid addiction and draw up early plans to focus on awareness, prevention and wellness among young people at risk of becoming addicted.

The group included educators, law enforcement, medical staff, counselors and representatives from nonprofits in the area and was led by University of New England researcher and professor of pharmacology Edward Bilsky.

The group emerged out of talks that took place over a year an a half ago between community leaders and medical staff, and the group was convened after a summit that included U.S. Sen. Angus King and National Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli – who met with a variety of medical and nonprofit personnel, and was attended by Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant and Bilsky.

Discussion was mainly focused around the visioning process – how the group can concisely explain their purpose and goals to the community, and what would be the most inclusive way to get this done.

There were several young people representing the youth advocacy organization Project AWARE, which seeks to raise awareness about prescription drug abuse, who introduced a video that some of their members had made in a summer workshop about drug abuse.

Attendees discussed how to focus the organization on wellness and “pro-social behavior,” in order to access the young people that are most at risk to become addicted.

Superintendent of Biddeford schools Jeremy Ray expressed support for the expansion of the group to Saco and Old Orchard, saying that “children … move between the three communities” often and this would provide more consistent support for them, stating that all students, not just ones traditionally defined as “at risk,” are truly at risk for opiod addiction. He added that he hoped the word partnership would be added and that he was skeptical of the word “task force.”

“The word task force seems like it ends; this will never end,” Ray said. “We’re not solving a problem with a finite end. It always will be there. It will be something different next year and next month.”

Bilsky said that this was an important first step in establishing the umbrella structure to get these diverse groups talking, coordinating resources and being more efficient with those resources.

“(With) the diversity of the people in this room and who they represent, we’ve got the energy back into it to get some practical next steps … but there’s a general consensus of promoting healthy communities,” he said.

Curtis Brown, nurse manager in the chemical dependency program at Southern Maine Health Care, who also works at the co-occuring disorder program on Main Street, said the discussion was an important first step.

“It’s such a huge problem (that) if you address one you’re really not going to make a dent into it,” he said. Brown expressed hope that the individual committees would make quick progress toward steering the organization.

Matthew Braun, a former opiate addict who founded a Biddeford chapter of Young People in Recovery, said that he was pleased with the energy of the organization.

“I’m so excited to see such passion for such a large group,” Braun said, adding he would be focused on “recovering and shifting the language and new approaches to prevention” of addiction.

Bilksy added he was also excited about the opportunity to reach out to youth directly.

“If the only reason is to give them opportunities, hope, understanding the key challenges of growing up … and channelling their energy their ambitions and curiosity into the community,” that will be an accomplishment, he said.