The opioid crisis gets a lot of negative media attention whenever there are incidents of tragic overdoses. But there are also positive and hopeful stories that arise from the opioid crisis narrative. One such bright spot in Berks County is the newly formed Drexel University Street Outreach Program.
The program has emerged from the coordinated efforts of three doctoral candidates in the class of 2026 at the Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health. Tom Parker, 26, Boston, Massachusetts, president of the Naloxone Outreach Project at Drexel, said the street outreach is another way to get Narcan out to those who need it in the community.
Parker explained the street team for the Naloxone Outreach Program would go out with backpacks full of Narcan kits and directly deliver them to anyone who wanted one. “We found that we gave entire Narcan kits out to anyone who wanted them,” Parker said. “The street outreach is going to be a way that we regularly go out and deliver just the Narcan spray directly to people, in addition to all the other supplies,” Parker added that the program is about hope. “I want us to give hope and be able to connect individuals to other resources that help get them back to their feet,” Parker said.
For more information on how to connect to opioid prevention resources, visit:
Resources – SOS Berks – Opioid Coalition
By David A. Kostival
