ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Activists are calling for action to help prevent overdoses in Rochester.

A group gathered on Monday, chanting "not one more." They are calling for not one more overdose.

“We are here today to send the message of not one more, not one more preventable overdose death," said Kim Smith of VOCAL-NY.

It’s a rally and a call to action by community members, activists and politicians.

“We have issues in this community that have been plaguing us for some time,” Assembly Member Demond Meeks said. “We heard about the ails as it relates to violence in the Rochester community, but one of the things we don’t talk much about is the overdoses.”

The group is calling on Governor Cuomo to declare a state of emergency for the opioid epidemic. They report that 5,100 New Yorkers died from preventable overdoses in 2020.

In Monroe County, there were more than 700 overdoses in 2020, with 137 of those ending in death.

“Last year was the worst year in recorded history for preventable overdose deaths," Meeks said.

Even organizers have several demands for the governor, including, signing off on overdose prevention centers, otherwise known as safe injection sites, signing Syringe Decriminalization and Expansion into law, approving Medicaid Assisted Treatment in prisons and jails, removing prior authorization for medication-assisted treatment under Medicaid, and signing the overdose prevention package by International Overdose Awareness Day which is August 31.

One of the boots on the ground volunteers there working for change has experienced the devastating effects of overdoses firsthand. Barbara Rivera lost four of her closest friends in the last five years to an overdose.

“It ain’t right,” Barbara Rivera of City-Wide Tenant Union said. “The system isn’t working. We’ve said this many times and I’ll say this again, our system is not working.”

A system further negatively impacted by the pandemic, the extent of the damage is something officials are just now getting a glimpse at.