SOOAR 2022 Mid-year SSP Report

Strategies to Overcome Obstacles and Avoid Recidivism

Q2-FY21

2022 Mid-Year Report

TO OUR SUPPORTERS, Your support has made a tremendous difference in the lives of local residents in Southeast Michigan. Funds provided by grants, donations and fundraisers covered the cost of our harm reduction program for youth and adults struggling with structural and systematic barriers to reducing harms associated with trauma, poverty and oppression. Thanks to your support to help provide services with respect and dignity to improve the quality and quantity of their lives.

2

BOOTS ON THE GROUND HARM REDUCTION

Your support allowed us to provide a comprehensive range of services through culturally humble, stigma-free outreach, linking people to services and improving individuals, their families, and the community’s lives by providing education, resources and the tools needed to empower and support healing-centered care.

Here's what we accomplished together from January 2022-June 2022:

Program Participation

We provided 23 participants and 167 secondary distributors with various harm reduction interventions and supplies, through 52 encounters.

Public Health Tools

We provided 22,780 syringes, 522 safer smoking bubble kits, 1,010 safer smoking stem kits, 250 safer snorting kits and 2,330 condoms preventing the transmission of HIV/HCV and other STI’s as well as skin, soft tissue injury and endocarditis.

3

4

Hygiene and Wound Care

We provided 476 general hygiene kits and 300 menstrual hygiene kits to participants to reduce infections and ensure dignity for those who may not have access to resources such as running water or stable housing. We also gave out 460 wound care kits to assist in the healing and prevention of infection from simple abscesses to large concerning wounds that required a trusted connection to medical evaluation and interventions.

5

Overdose Education & Naloxone Distribution

We were able to provide education on overdose prevention and response to various participants and community members. Participants received 1,113 Nasal Narcan kits, 70 Injectable Naloxone kits, 308 Fentanyl test strips and participants reported saving 133 lives through our Naloxone distribution. We have sadly lost 4 participants to a preventable overdose death and will honor them through our dedication to acknowledging and empowering people who use drugs daily and during International Overdose Awareness Day August 31st, 2022.

6

Substance Use Management Engagement and Referrals

We were able to screen and promote any positive change through substance use management safety planning and support groups to 18 individuals and provide 5 individuals with referrals to substance use disorder treatment, and make life-saving connections to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder when an individual faced financial hardship and an administrative discharge.

Additional Resources

We are learning to capture those moments that go outside of substance use, as the economic hardships and barriers to services profoundly influence substance use management and service engagement. We provided 9 food distributions, 10 housing referrals, 4 legal assistance connections, 6 mental health support sessions, 2 employment skills like resume development, 2 insurance referrals, 5 safety planning sessions and 1 individual needed help with document assistance.

7

BEHIND THE SCENES Capacity Building

Staff is building capacity to ensure certified testing counselors are available for testing. 3 team members have completed CTR Modules 1 and 2, with module 3 scheduled for the end of July through the SHOARS portal. Our paperwork and contracts are coming along, with our health care provider and facility MOU drafted, with Exposure Control Plan and Provider Oversight letter being finalized. Our provider is CLIA certified and awaiting finalization from the state to sign all documents. The Syringe Service Program Manual and HIV/HCV testing protocols are developed and ready for review and implementation.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Service Accounts are activated and logistics are in the works for additional staff members to our data.

Community referral lists are being updated for providers and case management for individuals who test positive for HIV, HCV, and other types of social services that our participants may need. Our partner health clinic is reviewing information about the MDHHS We Treat Hep C initiative and is excited to make a larger impact within the community with SOOAR!

Community Engagement

Multiple testing events are being discussed within several communities within Out-Wayne County, including the City of Inkster and the Belleville area.

We are looking forward to bringing together local talent and activities to build awareness and support for a healthier community for everyone.

Community Engagement Surveys are being collected online and in-person to understand the barriers and solutions of our participants, especially those in the LGBTQIA+ family.

8

Faith in Harm Reduction

Our Faith in Harm Reduction Manual is in development to be culturally responsive to the local Black churches and community.

Healing and Empowerment

We are building a system of support groups for people who want to learn more about harm reduction and provide safe spaces for people who use drugs and/or engage in sex work. This will be an out-Wayne chapter of the Michigan Users Union to build collective power and action amongst the people impacted most by the overdose crisis.

Our SOOAR mobile App is online and being utilized by community members already! This app is aimed at helping people to make informed decisions about substance use. It is designed as an educational resource with embedded videos and factual content. It builds awareness about substance use while providing resources for health.

9

Strengths and Successes

Our strengths come from the various skills of our team members and connections our team has with the community, especially people who use drugs. These connections are critically needed in a time when isolation is high, resources are stretched thin, and our participants experience stigma and discrimination.

Our team’s expertise in social work and public health is critical insight into the complexities of systematic and individual levels of care. This dynamic team has taken the challenges of starting a program during COVID-19 and an overdose crisis with an optimistic mindset, and innovative pragmatism.

This year we have made enormous strides in relationship building amongst people who use drugs that are houseless and with collective networks of sex workers and social justice advocates. Our program is focused on low-barrier hiring and empowering people who use drugs and engage in sex work, building power and allowing them to lead. We have been trusted with the community to learn about various substances that were identified in fatal overdoses, this is helping us work with the Health Department in better ways to identify what is in the adulterated illicit supply and ways to educate and mitigate those harms to our participants and their social circles.

Challenges/Lessons Learned

COVID-19 continues to have an impact on our outreach efforts; while we have started reentering the community in some spaces, we are not currently as present as we would like to be with limitations on indoor spaces for safety reasons. Engagement with individuals has been increasing in need of emotional support, safety planning for using alone, navigation and connections to social services, food distribution, financial support, methadone and healthcare advocacy. This has been incredibly time-consuming on an individual level basis. Surveys being distributed and narratives collected and thematically are being categorized.

Police discrimination and targeting as well as municipality and legislation is also an ongoing barrier that prevents our participants from getting the supplies that they need and feeling safe to travel to get supplies. Police harassment and paraphernalia charges are issues we are constantly fighting against in order to provide life-saving/changing materials to our participants. We have sadly lost 4 members of our program and will honor them through our dedication to acknowledging and empowering people who use drugs. Due diligence is being applied with this new learning curve for services and we are ensuring all critical elements of testing and medical oversight are followed. We look forward to more community engagement as we increase awareness and build upon collective action needed in Out-Wayne for a healthier community.

IN THE NEWS

Due to the dedication of our organization to harm reduction philosophy and practices, we've received a lot of press coverage over the past year. Here are links to a selection of articles, videos, and interviews: VBT approves partnership with SOOAR http://bellevilleareaindependent.com/vbt-approves-police-partnership-

with-sooar-practices/

“Administrative Detox” From Methadone Sums Up System’s Cruelty https://filtermag.org/administrativedetox-from-methadone-sums-up-systems-cruelty/

10

LOOKING FORWARD

In 2021, SOOAR made a commitment to ourselves and our communities to challenge and dismantle racial injustice, that specifically affects people who use drugs and/or engage in sex work with our organization.

Through organizational and individual assessments, we are auditing our policies, developing a timeline, and utilizing and enhancing our Participant Advisory Board. We understand this to be an iterative process and look forward to working more closely with external stakeholders toward solidarity and adequate resourcing for people impacted by racist, classist and homophobic deadly drug policies.

In collaboration with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, SOOAR will help provide a framework of what harm reduction philosophies and practices are, provide and receive referrals from other organizations to reduce the gaps and barriers that Wayne County has faced for residents most impacted by drug use and racism.

SOOAR is committed to strengthening education, awareness, services, and support for people who use drugs and their community.

11