In The First Four Months Of Operations, The Nation’s First Supervised Consumption Centers Announce That It Has Surpassed Over 1,000 Participants In Its Programs
Milestone Far Surpasses Original Launch Projection of “Up to 100 Saved Lives Per Year”
New York, NY – OnPoint NYC, the operator of the nation’s first and only sanctioned supervised consumption centers, announces that it has served over 1,000 unique participants in its sanctioned overdose prevention centers since November 30, 2021. The nonprofit, which runs two harm reduction programs in northern Manhattan (East Harlem and Washington Heights), provides life-saving services as the country seeks to cope with record levels of drug overdose fatalities.
OnPoint NYC’s supervised consumption centers have been utilized 13,181 times by 1,012 registered participants. During this same time, OnPoint staffers have intervened in 226 overdoses.
“Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Every life has value and a purpose. The 1,012 participants that have used our sanctioned safe consumption centers are no different. I’m grateful that each one of them has trusted my team to help them through what can be a difficult and deeply personal struggle while they seek to rebuild their lives,” said Sam Rivera, Executive Director at OnPoint NYC.
“We are humanizing and giving hope to people that far too often society sees as disposable and defines them by their mistakes. And while the number of overdose interventions is a significant milestone, my staff and I don’t see the number, we see the beautiful people that we work with behind the stat – the participant struggling with addiction and desperately trying to secure a job to buy holiday presents for his daughter or the participant whose family has given up on them and is now desperately looking for a support system to help them through trauma. Each participant behind the 114 interventions has a story and a hope for a better and healthier future in which they’re no longer self-medicating through drug use. We’re grateful to be here to provide them that hope and the tools to help make it a reality.”
There has been a surge in overdose fatalities in New York City as the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the city. According to NYC Health Department’s latest figures, there were 596 confirmed overdose deaths in the first quarter of 2021 – representing a 24% increase versus the year before. The department also found that someone dies every four hours in NYC due to an overdose and that more New Yorkers die from drug overdoses than homicides, suicides and vehicular accidents combined.
In addition to the supervised consumption centers, OnPoint NYC provides wrap around services to meet its underserved participants’ comprehensive set of needs including medical and mental health care, onsite access to Buprenorphine and other addiction treatment options, Hepatitis C and HIV testing and treatment, holistic services, hygiene and respite, food, clothing and other critical supports.
