This group plans to hand out naloxone on Thursday. Here’s where
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- Safe Streets joins national event to distribute naloxone and test strips locally
- Over a dozen Wichita-area sites offer free overdose-reversal resources Thursday
- Federal budget cuts threaten access as overdose death rates show decline trend
As naloxone distribution is targeted by federal budget cuts, a Wichita non-profit is participating in a national distribution effort for the lifesaving medication.
Safe Streets is partnering with several area businesses, organizations and other groups to distribute the drug that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses.
“Free naloxone, free fentanyl test strips; we do it all year round, but this is a great way for us to amplify it,” Aonya Kendrick Barnett with Safe Streets said.
It’s part of the National Save a Life Day, an annual distribution event to get naloxone into communities and educate people on overdose response.
Safe Streets has participated before, but this year, it’ll have more than a dozen locations where residents can pick up naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and other resources.
Several are in downtown or the city’s core area, which Kendrick Barnett said was intentional.
“It was really important for us to really saturate the community with support and really show folks that they deserve the support and the care that they need,” she said.
For non-profits like Safe Streets, the distribution day comes as they grapple with reduced funding and support from the federal government.
Since President Donald Trump took office, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, the nation’s main mental health agency, has lost about a third of its staff.
The president’s proposed budget earlier this year cut the agency’s operating budget by a billion dollars. Its budget in 2024 was about $7.5 billion, but much of that money goes directly to states to address mental health and substance use issues directly.
Kendrick Barnett said the cuts are concerning, especially as overdose death rates decline nationwide, which she attributes to access to naloxone and other lifesaving resources.
“We have to continue to do this work, and we have to make sure that it’s free, it’s accessible, and people have access to it when they need it,” she said. “The judgment is out the door, the stigma is out the door.”
Naloxone distribution sites in Wichita, Newton
Those interested in getting naloxone Thursday can stop by pickup locations during their hours of business.
Safe Streets Wichita, 1200 East Waterman Street
Meadowlark Care Collectives, 417 Topeka Avenue
Matrix Center, 9918 East Harry Street
Central Standard Brewery, 156 Greenwood Avenue
College Hill Deli, 3407 Douglas Avenue
Tenfold Tattoo, 328 S Laura Street
The Lord’s Diner, 520 North Broadway Street
Uhlik Music Store, 2160 East Douglas Avenue
Positive Directions, 154 North Topeka Avenue
Urban League of Kansas, 2418 East 9th Street North
Wichita State HOPE Services, 1845 Fairmount Street
Vortex Souvenir, 607 West Douglas Avenue
Kerosene Skate Shop, 111 South Hydraulic Avenue
Pennant Coffee/Good Company, 930 West Douglas Avenue
Old Town College & Barber, 1211 East Douglas Avenue
NAMI Mid-Kansas First Mennonite Church, 429 East 1st Street, Newton