Our daughter Lauren was just 15 years old when she died from a fentanyl overdose. Lauren was a high school freshman at Franklin High School when she experimented with what she thought were “blues”, and it ended in unimaginable tragedy. Losing her has shattered our lives — and what makes it even worse is knowing that the system meant to protect kids like Lauren is failing them. Right now in Portland, teen overdoses are not separately tracked. Deaths like Lauren’s are lumped into broad categories alongside adults, the unhoused, and people struggling with long-term addiction. Because of this, we have no clear data on how many kids are dying — no real way to measure or understand the scope of this crisis among our youth. This lack of transparency isn’t just a numbers problem. It blinds our community to the reality that fentanyl is killing our kids. It makes it harder to build targeted prevention strategies and harder to save lives. We are asking the City of Portland to create a separate category for teen overdose deaths — to stop burying their stories in adult statistics. Teens face different challenges, different pressures, and different risks. They deserve to be seen clearly. Lauren’s life mattered. Every young life lost to fentanyl matters. Our kids are not a footnote. They are not just statistics. Each one is a son, a daughter, a friend, a future that will never be lived. Please stand with us. Sign this petition to help make sure Portland tracks teen overdose deaths separately — so we can finally start protecting our children the way they deserve. Let Lauren’s story be the beginning of change.