It wasn’t that long ago when Cassandra Borland was in the same shoes as the men and women she’s supporting.

"This is my lunch. What I carry with me, with my lunch is all the tools. Maybe not all the tools every day, but as many tools as I can come across for harm reduction," said Casandra Borland, a certified recovery peer advocate at Addiction Center of Broome County.

She once lived in the aptly named “Ithaca Jungle,” an encampment for the homeless and unhoused.

Today, she’s a certified recovery peer advocate who is also in recovery.

She’s seen the unfortunate trend in Broome County, where overdoses were at a record high last year.

"Over the past year, we've lost so many community members and we've lost people that are not known to be regular substance use. It's just, it's horrific,” said Borland.

In 2020, Broome County lost 39 people due to overdoses. The number jumped to 54 in 2021 and to a record 80 last year. For context, much larger Monroe and Onondaga counties had 128 and 158, respectively.

But unlike years past, opioids are no longer the lone cause.

"We really see a lot of polysubstance use in the community. So there are resources available like fentanyl test strips and Xylazine test strips that, if you call 211, they'll be able to tell you where you can get those. But we really encourage the community to be testing their substances no matter what substance you're using," said Marissa Knapp, an overdose prevention coordinator with the Broome County Health Department.

But it seems just as leaders tackle one problem, a whole new concern pops up. Lately, it’s been Xylazine, a dangerous animal tranquilizer that’s found its way into many of the drugs out on the streets.

It’s become a statewide issue, leading to more fatal overdoses, as Narcan will not help in this situation.

“The only thing you can do until emergency services gets there is rescue breaths. Narcan is not going to work," said Jeffrey Swan, certified recovery peer advocate Addiction Center of Broome County. “You're playing a dangerous game. And you're putting your life in your own hands.”

"People who don't regularly use every day, they're using a substance thinking it's one thing and it's not. It's got Xylazine in it and they're dying," said Borland.

Counties across the state have since been measuring overdoses using a crude rate, or the average number per 100,000 people. Broome County nearly topped the state in 2020, sitting at 36.4. That makes test strips critically important.

It’s the job of the health department, and the group at the Addiction Center of Broome County, to make sure no one feels alone.

"To have a diverse workforce as it is [is] important to us because we can also lean on each other," said Judy Aupont, outreach and engagement program manager for the Addiction Center.

"Getting out of addiction is not easy. Being in recovery is not easy, and everybody has a different pathway to recovery. So just showing our community members that we are there to support them and that we've been where they're at … even if we haven't met exactly in their shoes, we've walked the same path," said Borland.

Through two quarters, Broome County has recorded 36 suspected fatal overdoses, slightly lower than this time last year. Monroe County has already surpassed last year, with 165.