A Homer needle exchange offers safer supplies for rural Alaskans and a bridge to recovery

Volunteers Annie Garay (left) and Ginny Espenshade (right) group up supplies astatine nan Homer syringe exchange. (Simon Lopez/KBBI)

In nan backroom of a Homer agency building connected a caller Tuesday, agelong tables held a buffet of supplies for illustration sterile water, tourniquets, fentanyl trial strips, and sharps containers. The supplies are portion of a bimonthly syringe exchange.  

Rhonda, who didn’t want to springiness her past name, walked successful and sewage a large hug from 1 of nan volunteers.  She called nan speech a “safe place” and comes regularly for supplies. 

“People are not judgmental, and they’re conscionable doing it arsenic a work to thief people,” Rhonda said. “It could prevention your life, potentially. Clean supplies are a batch amended than soiled ones. Trust me. I know.” 

Volunteers person been moving nan speech since 2016 and immoderate of nan volunteers are erstwhile customers. The programme provides free syringes, opioid-overdose treatments, and safer smoking supplies for illustration pipes and vaseline. They besides connection testing on-site for HIV and Hepatitis C, which group are astatine higher consequence for if they’re sharing needles.

Syringe entree programs for illustration nan Homer speech are shown to trim transmission rates of HIV and hepatitis C by half, but it tin beryllium highly challenging for group successful agrarian Alaska to get cleanable supplies. It’s besides difficult to get caller syringes without a prescription. Pharmacies are allowed to waste them without one, but it’s astatine nan pharmacy’s discretion, and moreover if they take to, nan supplies tin beryllium expensive. 

Dr. Sarah Spencer, an addiction medicine master who useful astatine nan Ninilchik Community Clinic, said nan Homer speech was Alaska’s first in-person agrarian syringe entree program. She said group travel from arsenic acold arsenic Sterling to get supplies, astir a 90-mile drive.

“They want to beryllium healthy,” Spencer said. “They want to protect their health. They want to support themselves safe. That’s an unthinkable effort for group to thrust each nan measurement down present to get those supplies.”

Spencer said group driving from that acold retired of municipality tin prime up supplies for different group who request them successful their location community, a strategy she calls “secondary adjacent distribution.”

“That tin really thief supplies to get to areas wherever different group wouldn’t person access,” Spencer said. “And we acquisition state cards to beryllium capable to springiness retired to people.”  

Syringes for distribution astatine nan Homer needle exchange. (Simon Lopez/KBBI)

Spencer said they’re besides testing a mobile speech that could service nan cardinal Kenai Peninsula. She said nan unsmooth scheme is to supply cleanable supplies and a practitioner who tin thief group successful betterment pinch medicine management–all packed into a vehicle. She said practitioners will beryllium capable to spot personification for depression, anxiety, aliases contiguous aesculapian care. If it useful well, nan mobile portion will rotate among arsenic galore arsenic 4 peninsula communities to scope nan astir people. 

Spencer said their programs purpose to trim arsenic galore barriers to attraction arsenic possible, and that intends helping group who aren’t fresh to discontinue utilizing drugs. She said that’s a departure from really curen programs person worked historically. 

“No matter wherever you’re astatine successful your betterment journey, and moreover if you’re struggling pinch ongoing supplier use, and moreover possibly not having abstinence arsenic your superior goal, there’s still things that we tin do to thief to amended your value of life and trim nan risks to your health,” Spencer said. 

But she said nan biggest obstruction to harm simplification successful Alaska tends to beryllium surface science and transportation.

Jennifer Summers, who oversees nan Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s constituent misuse prevention program, said they proviso free tests for STIs, HIV, and Hepatitis C, and safer injection supplies delivered to anyone crossed nan state. They besides supply naloxone supplies and online training. 

“Some of our agrarian communities don’t moreover person services that are emblematic of what you would deliberation of arsenic first responders,” Summers said. “So, our extremity is to effort to really make judge that group person entree to Naloxone and those opioid overdose consequence kits, that they person training.”

New syringe entree programme users are five times much apt to participate supplier treatment, according to nan CDC, and at nan Homer exchange, volunteers purpose to make that way to betterment easy. Doctors and lawsuit managers astatine nan adjacent session are portion of nan programme and go acquainted faces, thing that’s important for a organization that typically faces favoritism and stigma successful nan healthcare system.  

Rhonda, who gets supplies astatine nan Homer exchange, said she likes that immoderate volunteers are erstwhile customers. 

“People yet will astir apt travel to a constituent wherever they consciousness for illustration they don’t request to usage substances,” Rhonda said. “But past there’s relapse… You conscionable person to beryllium patient. I’ve gone backmost and forth. Some days are amended than others.”

She said sobriety is thing she would purpose for again astatine immoderate point. If she’s ever fresh to activity towards recovery, she’s already connected pinch group who tin thief her connected that journey. And if not, nan Homer speech will proceed to thief her and her peers enactment arsenic safe and patient arsenic possible. 

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