Newark Outreach Workers Hit Streets To Help Stop Drug Overdoses

NEWARK, NJ — “I want to see you live.” That’s the motto that a cadre of community members in Newark have adopted as they take to the streets to help stop drug overdoses in New Jersey’s largest city.

Recently, the Newark Community Street Team (NCST) announced that local outreach workers will be co-responding to overdose calls in the city with University Hospital EMS workers (watch the video below). They’ll be equipped with naloxone – which can help reverse an overdose from opioids like heroin – as well as other harm-reduction supplies and education materials.

Afterwards, the outreach teams will help the person to find support services to help them get on the road to recovery, if they want it.

Hopefully, it will help cut down on a “skyrocketing” trend of drug overdoses in New Jersey and Newark. But it may also have the additional benefit of reducing police encounters – and arrests for people struggling with substance abuse, the NCST said.

• See related article: DEA Warns Of 'Mass Overdose Events' From Fentanyl In NJ

The overdose response team program is supported by funding from Vital Strategies, a global public health organization that is working in seven states, including New Jersey, to support an “equitable and sustainable reduction in overdose deaths.”

Other key partners in the local program include Bridges Outreach, Inc., New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition, elev8, Integrity House, NJ Transit PD @ Newark Penn Station, Newark Community Solutions, Northern NJ MAT Center of Excellence, Stepping Stones to Resiliency Essex County, YMCA of Newark and Vicinity, North Jersey Community Research Initiative (NJCRI) Syringe Exchange Program and the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

According to the NCST, the initiative is being rolled out at a critical time.

“Newark has one of the highest rates of overdose in New Jersey, with overdose deaths rising fastest in the Black community,” the group charged.

Hence their motto, “I want to see you live.”

“The harm-reduction approach that we are bringing to the street is non-judgmental and inclusive of all individuals as we meet people where they are in their substance use, provide life-saving supplies and resources, facilitate education around harm reduction practices, and create pathways to treatment for those seeking it,” said Solomon Middleton-Williams, deputy director with the NCST.

“This initiative is driven by the singular goal of wanting to see people live,” agreed Dionna King, a technical advisor for the Overdose Prevention Program at Vital Strategies.

“We hope this program becomes a model for New Jersey and shows that to end the overdose crisis we need to invest in harm reduction, evidence-based treatment and social resources that let people live a dignified life,” King said.

Caitlin O'Neill, director of harm reduction services at New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition, said every person deserves “dignity and care” – whatever that may look like to them.

“I have personally experienced the magic of someone simply reminding you that your life has value and that your drug use doesn't make you dirty or bad,” O'Neill said. “That reminder makes a huge impact on our spirit, our dignity, and our will to survive. That is one of the many reasons we are thrilled to partner with NCST in this work to prevent overdose through providing evidence-based tools and services to survive the targeted harms of the drug war.”

• See related article: New Jersey Spends $1B Every Year Fighting The Drug War, Report Says

Marques McCoy, manager of Crossroads, North Jersey Community Research Initiative, said that “street outreach” is often the best way to reach people.

“The street outreach that NCST conducts has been vital to improving safety and well-being for years now, so we are happy to partner with them on this new effort as well,” McCoy said. “Everyone needs someone, and this new effort will help to ensure that more needs of our community are met.”

• See related article: Essex County Courts To Celebrate 18 People Who Rose Above Addiction

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