JUNE 28TH
6-8:30PM
Where we partnered with parents and caregivers, practitioners and young people. Our guest panelists included testimonials from the heart, an overview on Fentanyl and Fentanyl Strips, Opioids, Xylazine, Narcan and Children’s Mental Health
CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE PRESENTATION
While there is no July Town Hall Meeting, it will be the start of a YouthLed Public Service Announcement (PSA) Campaign. Go to:
https://forms.gle/CaPUJKPtWNPU9tVJ8
AUGUST 3RD 6-8:30PM
SEPTEMBER 28TH
6-8:30PM
We will bring in local leaders in the field along with parents, and practitioners to expand our conversation and awareness together.
September date during Recovery Month
We will bring in national leaders in the field: ORN (Opioids Response Network) and DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) to join our community and fight this fentanyl crisis together.
Our first multicultural virtual townhall meeting was held on Wednesday, June 28th, 2023, from 6-8:30 pm. It was the 101 initial conversation on the poisons that are consuming our communities. It was an opportunity to learn about Naloxone (NARCAN) as a lifesaving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids, including Fentanyl, as well as the state of our children's mental health.
This first multicultural townhall meeting was well attended with more than 80 partners joining the zoom call. The multi-cultural event provided interpreters in Spanish, Hmong, Karen, and Somali for the inclusion of these underserved communities and Marnita’s Table provided technical support.
Facilitated by Mary Sue Hansen, Carmen Robles, Wendy Goodman and Lauren Williams, the presentation opened with a song of hope ‘HOLD ON TO ME’, followed by a blessing and Land Acknowledgement by Baswewe Gayle setting the stage for the difficult but necessary conversation.
June 28th, 2023 SPANISH HMONG
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. It is a prescription drug that is also made and used illegally. Like morphine, it is a medicine that is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, especially after surgery. It is also sometimes used to treat patients with chronic pain who are physically tolerant to other opioids. Tolerance occurs when you need a higher and/or more frequent amount of a drug to get the desired effects.
Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, are now the most common drugs involved in drug overdose deaths in the United States.
6 out of 10 illegal fentanyl tablets ("fake prescription pills") sold on U.S. streets right now contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.
(ONE PILL CAN KILL: https://www.dea.gov/onepill )
Fentanyl,adrug50timesmorepotentthanheroin,is blamedforthousandsofdeathsintheU.S.eachyear.
Fentanyl Test Strips (FTS) are a low-cost method of helping prevent drug overdoses and reducing harm. FTS are small strips of paper that can detect the presence of fentanyl in all different kinds of drugs (cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, etc.) and drug forms (pills, powder, and injectables).
A tranquilizer called xylazine is increasingly being found in the US illicit drug supply and linked to overdose deaths. Xylazine—which is not approved for use in people—can be life-threatening and is especially dangerous when combined with opioids like fentanyl. Due to its impact on the opioid crisis, fentanyl mixed (adulterated) with xylazine has been declared an emerging threat by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.
an Opioid Prevention Coordinator at Ramsey County Public Health Clinic 555. His career in public health spans more than 3 decades. A tireless community advocate, Jessie Saavedra knows firsthand the challenges of seeking a healthy lifestyle. Jessie shared the disturbing reality of opioid and fentanyl data in Ramsey County. He also touched upon fentanyl strips and the dangers of Xylazine.
is a mom who lost her son Devin at age 19 to fentanyl when he purchased what he thought was a Percocet pill on Snap Chat. Brigette shared the heart-breaking details on the loss of her beloved son. Reiterating how intrusive fentanyl is, how just one pill can forever alter the course of one’s life. As parents, she and her husband prided themselves on their diligence in having conversations of drugs and substance use with their children. They didn’t know about fentanyl. Like most families, they learned about it the hard way. Bridgette now uses her pain to fuel the battle towards educating families on this lethal poison. Bridgette is a tireless advocate, bringing awareness to this crisis. She a board member of V.O.I.D. (Victims of Illicit Drugs) and recently founded The Devin Joseph Norring Foundation in honor of her son. The foundation focuses on bringing awareness and support to families, to our youth, to our children.
Message From Bridgette: “Now we're learning how youth that smoke are developing schizophrenia and its exacerbating mental health disorders. Some of the sicknesses that Devin had, I'm learning, were caused by marijuana - again learning everything after the fact. These kids, especially the ones in Hastings, aren't smoking weed. They're smoking THC vapes and dabs that are at an insanely high concentration. This isn't the weed of my day, no ma'am. Plus, we are losing kids who smoked where fentanyl was found laced into their weed. The girl down the block from me, od'd a year ago from a vape that unbeknownst to her contained fentanyl in it.”
Learn more about Bridgette Norring: Source: Hastings Star Gazette
is 23 and has been in recovery for six and a half years. He works as a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist for Minnesota Recovery Connection and Allina Health in their Allina Virtual Addiction Care team, as well as hosting Minnesota Recovery Connection's LGBTQIA+ and Recovery Meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5pm. His work and passion is to help those who struggle with addiction as he once had. Noah did not hold back in sharing his story that led him to try drugs. Being bullied, not fitting in, isolation were key to his path of self-destruction. Noah pointed out the pain inflicted on his mother and credits her for his road to recovery. Highlighting the importance of HOLDING ON to someone you love, having hope and recognizing the addition affects everyone around you.
a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist for Minnesota Recovery Connection courageously shared her story of a lifetime of addition, her long and arduous road to recovery and her life post-survival. Anjelica experienced trauma at an early age. The loss of her mother to breast cancer when Anjelica was one year old, coupled with the incarceration of her father, set the stage for a life-long battle with addiction, being subjected to domestic violence and her attempts at suicide. Losing her children to CPS (Child Protection Services) inspired Anjelica to fight for her life, to fight for sobriety. Today Anjelica finds solace and purpose in helping others. As a mother to three children, she is especially dedicated to creating awareness among young people. Anjelica is also involved with the U of M Mother’s Program where she works with mothers with addiction challenges, bringing her full circle in her journey to a healthy lifestyle.
14 years old is the youngest of guests this evening. Redick shared his perspective on substance use within his own family circle. Eloquently sharing his passion to help spread awareness among his peers.
Community Advancement
In a KARE 11 2021 interview wa described as “Minnesota nurse on mission to vaccinate divers populations.” It went on to say
“She uses a longtime model tha involves strong relationships wit community partnerships and commitment to “show up and stay.
What is Naloxone?
https://knowthedangers.com/naloxone-finder/
Children's Mental
Collaborative (RCCMHC) working across systems and with families to support children's mental health.
https://www.rccmhc.org/
CLICK HERE
How to Safely Administer NARCAN? CLICK HERE
Johansen Director o Community Clinical Care, M Healt Fairview
Wendy Goodman is the Executive Director of Ramsey County
Health
Let's build a mighty community that stops deaths from Fentanyl!
We NEED YOU! Help us identify ALL OF THE TRUSTED RESOURCES YOUR CULTURAL COMMUNITIES access. As we learn together, we will share these resources with you, and on both the SRFC and RCCMHC resource directories.
