ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - A free syringe and needle exchange program was only up and running for only about two months before COVID-19 shut it down.
It is now back open and the number of clients has dramatically increased.
“There has been an uptick in overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said president of Council of Community Services, Ann Marie Green.
Closing down the center on Williamson Road and the needle exchange program, that had just started in January, was tough for the Council of Community Services, but there wasn’t much of a choice.
In mid March all 40 clients received a one month supply of clean needles with the expectation that the centers and the program would reopen quickly.
“That was part of the reason it took us a while to reopen, we had to get PPE for all of our employees,” said Green.
Since the exchange happens outside though a mobile unit, reopening happened several weeks ago. Staff have also started to offer a new life saving measure to clients, because of the pandemic.
“We now also can distribute Narcan, There is a new state wide order from the commissioner of the department of health, that as long as you meet certain requirements, which we do, we can offer the course that people need to take for getting Narcan so we can distribute that as well,” said Green.
While Green says there’s still a stigma surrounding the program, word is spreading.
At the beginning of the year only five people were registered, compared to eight times that number now.
“I think that’s where people get confused. They’ll say ‘you’re giving clean needles to junkies and that’s just encouraging them to keep going.' Well fist of all, those people are someone’s spouse, someone’s children, someone’s parent, and keeping them alive is a good thing, but also can we keep them alive and get them into treatment?”
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Drop in Center resumes syringe exchange program, sees more clients - WDBJ7
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