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WHAT
a difference a few months makes! Summer is in full swing, COVID-19 restrictions are loosening and life in Western New York is beginning to
look a bit more familiar. While we all eagerly await the day where we can see our patients’ smiling faces, the leadership and staff at Evergreen Heath and its affiliates are working hard and continuing to provide great care while keeping everyone safe.
I would like to start by thanking you for your loyal support of Evergreen and its affiliates through
your generous gifts to our Spring Appeal. We hope that the small token of our gratitude we sent out has brightened your days. If you haven’t had a chance to make your donation yet, please know that it’s not too late. Our patients rely on the kindness of our donors year-round, so please do visit evergreenhs.org/donate.
In this issue of EverGrowing, you will get the opportunity to meet Emma Fabian, AVP of Harm
Reduction. Evergreen is committed to ending the overdose crisis through our drug user health services and harm reduction model. In our conversation with Emma, she shares some of the great work her team has been doing to save lives and help our patients on their journey to health. Buffalo Pride Week was another virtual success with many great community events that we will showcase for you. I’m also thrilled to announce that Dining Out For Life is returning to an in-person event and encourage you to save the date and register as an ambassador. You’ll read more about that and many other great features in this issue. .
Thank you for being a part of the Evergreen family!
Richard J. Ridenour, Executive Director of Evergreen Health Foundation
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THE
19th annual Dining Out For Life event will take place on Tuesday, October 12 this year! Dining Out For Life is a national fundraising event that collects money for community-based
organizations serving people living with or impacted by HIV. A few ways DOFL helps raise money to serve those impacted by HIV are through corporate sponsorships, donations received the night of the event by patrons dining at the restaurants and contributions made from the restaurants based on that evening’s sales. Each year, more than 60 local restaurants participate and donate a portion of their sales to benefit HIV supportive services right here at Evergreen Health. For many years, we have been fortunate to receive donations from our WNY restaurant community and this year we want to support them. Due to COVID-19’s severe impact on the restaurant industry, restaurant donations are elective this year. We encourage you to join us and dine in or order take out on Tuesday, October 12 at one of our amazing DOFL restaurants that continue to support Evergreen year after year. Of course, patrons are encouraged to donate during Dining Out For Life to positively impact those living with HIV. To learn more about Dining Out For Life or to see a list of participating restaurants, check out diningoutforlife.com/city/wny/.
Become a DOFL Ambassador! Every year, we depend on a number of Dining Out For Life ambassadors
to help host and invite their network to dine out! As an ambassador, you would be assigned to one of the more than 60 amazing participating restaurants across WNY. While your job is fun, simple and easy, it makes a tremendous impact. We will give you the information and training you may need to fulfill this role. You may be asked to: •
Promote a designated Dining Out For Life participating restaurant
• Help fill the restaurant by inviting your friends and family to dine in or order takeout from your assigned
restaurant on that day •
Encourage your network to consider donating to Evergreen Health’s comprehensive HIV services
• Approach tables, when appropriate, to thank patrons for dining out, explain raffle prizes and distribute
raffle envelopes on the night of the event For more information on how to sign up as a volunteer, email our Events and Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@evergreenhs.org.
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THE
Food Pantry program has been a staple of Evergreen Health for more than 20 years, providing patients and community
members, as well as their households with a 2-3 day supply of food. Before the pandemic, our pantry had a waiting room where 30-40 patients and community members per day would sign in, choose what food they wanted from a shopping list and wait for their bags to be filled. Since the start of the pandemic, we have shifted operations to a curbside pickup model, as have many food pantries around Western New York. We now serve patients and community members by having them call the Food Pantry. They can complete their intake process on the phone and pick up their food at the pantry side door on Chippewa Street. Our phone lines and hours of operation run Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Grocery bags are pre-packed with food, but we will work with patients who have food allergies or intolerances to make sure they are receiving nutritious food that they and their families can eat. We offer a variety of products, including grains, canned fruits and vegetables, dairy products, beans, nuts, juice and frozen meats. Our inventory can change over quickly, as we order nearly 8,000 pounds of food per month!
- James Thompson
<< James Thompson and Clarissa Fischer in front of pre-packed food bags in the Evergreen Food Pantry
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I
nternational Overdose Awareness Day was started in 2001 by Sally Finn at the Salvation Army in Melbourne, Australia and takes place annually on August 31. Since 2001, many community members, organizations and
government groups have joined to hold events to raise awareness and commemorate those who have been lost to drug overdose. International Overdose Awareness Day aims to honor the lives lost to overdose and reduce the stigma associated with it. Through mourning and remembrance, we can celebrate the lives of loved ones. It is also an opportunity to educate people that overdose death is preventable and raise awareness about evidence-based practices like overdose education and Narcan.
The goals of Overdose Awareness Day are:
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To provide an opportunity for people to publicly mourn loved ones in a safe environment, some for the first time without feeling guilt or shame
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To include the greatest number of people in International Overdose Awareness Day events
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To give community members information about the issue of fatal and non-fatal overdose
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To send a strong message to current and former people who use drugs that they are valued
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To stimulate discussion about overdose prevention and drug policy
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• • •
To provide basic information on the range of supportive services that are available
North America continues to experience the highest drug-related mortality rate in the world,
To prevent and reduce drug-related harm by supporting evidence-based policy and practice To inform people around the world about the risk of overdose
accounting for one in four drug-related deaths globally. In April 2021, the Center for Disease Control estimated that the number of people in the US who have died from overdose from September 2019 to the end of September 2020 was 90,237. In Erie County there were 232 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2020. This represents a 49% increase over the 156 opioid-related overdose deaths that Erie County recorded in 2019. The Erie County Department of Health also found that toxicology reports showed that 84% of opioid-related overdose deaths involved fentanyl, a powerful and dangerous opioid that can stop one’s breathing almost instantaneously.
With overdose deaths on a sharp rise in Western New York, what can you do to help? The
simplest solution is to donate to our drug user services here at Evergreen. Below are some options that would help our patients get the care they need.
• •
$10 can provide a bus pass to assist two patients in getting to their medical appointments $50 can purchase a tank of gas for our syringe exchange mobile unit, helping to serve the eight counties of WNY in reducing incidences of overdose deaths and hepatitis C and HIV infections
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$100 can purchase a WIFI-enabled tablet device for patients to engage with telehealth appointments
• •
$250 can sponsor a month of support group therapy $500 can provide a monthly supply of sterile syringes to two patients OR equips four people with Narcan to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose
To donate, please visit our website at www.evergreenhs.org/donate.
Evergreen Health has been providing respectful, non-judgmental care to underserved communities in Western New York for nearly four decades. The challenges have changed over the years but our mission and values have remained constant. Your support has been essential in making this work possible. As the world adjusts to life with COVID-19, the need for our programs and services is greater than ever. To help us continue our vital work, click the link below to visit our donation page. Thank you!
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EMMA
Fabian, AVP of Harm Reduction at Evergreen Health, speaks about her role in overseeing Harm Reduction services for people who use drugs in Buffalo and Jamestown. She also
oversees the mobile syringe exchange unit that goes out to Chautauqua County, rural areas of Niagara County that otherwise do not have access to harm reduction services, as well as the east and w est side of Buffalo. In our conversation, she answers questions about the role the overdose crisis has played in Western New York and the ways COVID-19 has impacted the mental and physical health of this community.
For people who don’t know what harm reduction means, can you explain it? Sure. There are a range of
really good definitions of harm reduction out in the world. I tend to land on a definition of harm reduction that's fairly general and is about providing care to people in an effort to reduce the potentially negative consequences of a behavior like drug use. And that involves really striving to meet them where they're at.
Some of my mentors refer to harm reduction as an umbrella term that can include people who have the goal
of being abstinent. People do come into our doors at Evergreen Health and other places that are part of doing harm reduction and their goal is to stop using substances or stop some type of risky behavior. We know that for a lot of people, it's not just as easy as stopping right away. We have to have lots of different tools in our toolbox to meet people where they're at. That's harm reduction. It sounds a little cliché, but as care providers, we have toolboxes and we try to arm our patients with as many tools as possible.
How does the work you do impact the community and lawmakers? To be committed to harm reduction
services these days, especially because of the overdose crisis, means having a commitment to providing really quality services that meet people where they're at in their substance use and also working with community partners and working for social change. Sometimes that includes lawmakers to try to undo some of the stigma surrounding the populations that we serve and really shift the needle towards more comprehensive available services for people in our communities based on evidence and that are non-judgmental and welcoming. Those are things we do really well at Evergreen.
How do you think the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the overdose crisis? It’s two-fold, really. Vulnerable
populations, namely people who use drugs and are struggling with mental illness, are often also struggling with
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housing and social aspects of life. COVID-19 exasperated the situation for people who are already struggling or in harm reduction and behavioral health programs. The most well-known harm reduction services are syringe exchange, low threshold buprenorphine, also known by the brand name Suboxone, hepatitis C and HIV testing and linkage to treatment.
By having one-on-one or group conversations with our core members in the harm reduction programs,
either about managing use, using safer or advocacy, we were really starting to think about what we can help do in the community. And so, a lot of that depends on trust and rapport and providing welcoming, non-judgmental, stigma-free spaces for people and connection between our staff and our patients;
COVID-19 really put a strain on that. That’s because we moved our syringe exchange from this very
comfortable, welcoming third floor area of our main building to the lobby of the building so that we could just get equipment to people. Some of the magic of that trust, that rapport, unfortunately got lost because of COVID-19. Then, in Jamestown, our syringe exchange had to move sites. That was a little bit of a strain, as well. The mobile unit had to cease going out for a few months, which was really, really, really, really tough to know that there were people who were already struggling with having access to supplies. That's why we were taking the mobile unit to certain places. That was one that I think staff lost lots of sleep over, unfortunately.
I know fentanyl has been a huge issue. Can you talk about the impact of that drug during the pandemic?
When it comes to the overdose crisis, experts refer to it in three or four waves. The first wave of the overdose crisis was around 1999-2000 when we saw a rise in people overdosing from prescription opiates. The second wave, probably around 2010, was when we saw a significant rise in people overdosing from illicit opiates like heroin. Then the third very severe wave of the overdose crisis began around 2015-2016, when areas, especially Erie county in Western New York, saw a dramatic, dramatic increase in fentanyl overdoses.
Fentanyl is this really, really, really powerful opioid. It was made as a prescribed controlled substance for
very, very, very severe pain in some unique circumstances. But the type of fentanyl that we're referring to when we're talking about the overdose crisis is a synthetically made substance that's being used to cut illicit drug supplies. There are several analogs, so the chemical composition differs slightly from analog to analog, but
during COVID-19, we started to see a ton of stimulants cut with fentanyl in Erie County. Fentanyl was cut with cocaine and methamphetamine; that's really dangerous. People who use stimulants were not expecting this incredibly strong opiate to be like within their stimulant supply. Stimulants and opioids have the opposite effect on somebody's body, so they wouldn’t necessarily be carrying Narcan to prevent overdose death. It was really scary for us to realize, because at the same time fentanyl was becoming more prevalent in a variety of drug supplies, the COVID-19 pandemic was shutting things down. And so, these parallel public health crises really impacted people who were quite vulnerable.
In what other ways do you think our patients who use drugs were or are being affected by COVID-19? I
think we'll be studying for years and decades the impact of COVID-19 on people's behavioral health, whether it's substance use or mental health, social isolation or anxiety. The nature of COVID-19, being something that it's pretty anxiety-provoking, scary and isolating thing that could strike anybody at any time. It could impact somebody regardless of their precautions and their background. Mental health and substance use rates have been documented by the centers for disease control and prevention and other groups as really skyrocketing among all populations, all communities during COVID-19.
What unique work does Evergreen do for people who use drugs? We provide some of the only low barrier
harm reduction programs for people who use drugs in Western New York, actually. By low barrier, we mean that we don’t require a whole lot of patients in order to receive these basic services. Some examples of low barrier or low threshold programs are syringe exchange, Narcan to prevent overdose death and access to a welcoming place to talk with a skilled person about substance use. Besides Evergreen, the closest syringe exchange program is Trillium Health in Rochester, which is quite a distance away considering how important syringe exchange programs are at decreasing disease, transmissions, saving lives and getting patients a foot in the door to the healthcare system.
What do you say to someone who doesn’t feel like the overdose crisis affects them? During 2020, about a
hundred thousand people lost their lives to drug overdose. The Center for Disease Control released a report that 93,000 people at least died of a drug overdose. You'd be hard pressed to find someone in the Western New York
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Community who hasn't been touched in some way by the overdose crisis at this point.
What do you think some next steps are in regards to decreasing overdose death? We've learned over the
past decade or two, and especially because of COVID-19, that we've got a lot of members of our community who are really struggling and are quite vulnerable. We can't just tell people to stop using drugs and expect that that's going to work if we really want to decrease overdose rates. I think there's some awareness raising that we have to do as harm reductionists with lawmakers. The people that I've interacted with in the past year or so in Western New York seem to be up for the challenge. We have found some good partners locally, who, for instance, cosponsored our effort to decriminalize syringe possession in New York state.
New York state's overdose rates increased in NYS during COVID 19 adversely more so than the rest of the
country; overdose rates in our country increased by about 30% during COVID-19 and in New York state, they increased by almost 40%. In Erie County, they increased by a whopping 60%. Chautauqua County and Niagara County are some other areas that are really concerning in terms of overdose rates and hepatitis C. But we also happen to have a very forward-thinking health department in Erie county; that department has helped really develop a comprehensive response to overdose, it’s just that we're up against so much right now.
It seems like a hard job. There are hard days for sure, because we're up against a lot and we're doing services
that some people see as controversial because of all the stigma that our community, that our populations face. But I think I have a dream job. I feel really lucky to be allowed into the lives of our patients. You know, they trust us and they spend so much time with us. We've got a really special thing going on here at Evergreen. And nobody pays me to say that--you know, they just pay me to come to work here. And I don't say stuff like that lightly. I think I have the best job in the world. I think that at our organization, we have a special thing going that we get to continue when it comes to serving these people.
Overdose Awareness Day is going to be especially poignant this year. I think for our staff and for our members.
It's because so many lives have been lost during the past year. We're really hoping to continue to keep our foot on the gas pedal, so to speak, and raise awareness about innovative approaches that could be effective for saving lives. We are going to talk about how we try to continue to provide these really quality, low threshold services for
I feel really lucky to be allowed into the lives of our patients people who use drugs.
Do you mind sharing what drew you to this
type of work? I remember being younger and the way that people in my family, like my father, who was a social worker, really just humanized populations who were struggling with mental health, substance use and homelessness. That was a big part of my life growing up. Then I became a social worker and, we don’t talk about this a lot in society but like a lot of families in our communities, my family has been touched by mental health and substance use. And so, coming to work at Evergreen, what I started to see in terms of the way that we humanize people and we don't judge people, that's healing. That's more healing than any medication or anything else that we can do in healthcare for me. It just really energizes me and that's kept me going through these difficult past several years.
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T
he Drug User Health Coalition is a resource group for current and former people who use drugs. This weekly meeting allows members opportunities to connect with each other, share experiences and work to bring about meaningful change. For many, this sense of purpose is
instrumental in each member’s own path to a healthier future.
Emma Fabian, AVP of Harm Reduction explains, “Our patients really are motivated to meet often and
to keep moving on projects that we're working on. We are intentional about building in advocacy. We pick issues to work on, like syringe decriminalization, medication assisted treatment in jails and prisons or marijuana regulation and legalization. That involvement demonstrates legislation that would make a real positive impact in people's lives.”
One member of the Coalition stated that advocacy allows him to feel good about himself by helping
others. “I can give you some true-life stories, how drugs affect my life and my family’s life. It made me feel good about myself to do something for someone who can’t help themselves.”
Another member chimed in, “I found harm reduction helped me. It helped me reduce my drug use…it
gave me inspiration to continue living.”
Some members are drawn to help others because they see themselves in those struggling. “That
could have been me” is a common phrase when talking about people struggling with drugs. Also, is the feeling of stigma that many members experience. One member explains, “It’s so prevalent that people think we’re all the same and just looking for handouts. That’s not the case. Some of us have been through a lot of trauma and people look the other way.”
The Drug User Health Coalition allows members a place where they can be heard and understood,
rather than looked down on or turned away from. Helping others gives many members a sense of purpose. One member who now works for Evergreen in the Harm Reduction Mobile Unit expressed joy with being able to help the community. “I love it. I love connecting with people. I love talking to them and assessing their abscesses. If they want to go to rehab or just talk, like normal people, I’m here.”
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PRIDE
Month rolled into Western New York this past June with a pent-up demand for in-person events and things to do. And while the annual Buffalo Pride Parade and Pride Festival
were canceled due to uncertainty about what restrictions would be in place, there were many opportunities for the community to show its Pride nevertheless.
Individuals and grassroots organizations in neighboring communities led the way, hosting events such as
Jamestown Pride, which took place on Saturday, June 12. Sponsored by Evergreen Health, the festival featured a pride flag-raising ceremony, Pulse Nightclub remembrance ceremony, a pride-themed public market and drag performance by RuPaul’s Drag Race star and Jamestown native, Pandora Boxx.
Niagara Pride – the outgrowth of a former Pride Center of Western New York program – held multiple events
throughout the month of June including Shopping with Pride, which encouraged community members to patron LGBTQ+ supportive businesses. A portion of the proceeds from the event was donated to the newly christened 501©3 nonprofit. Additionally, a Rainbow Garden was planted in – where else – the “Rainbow City,” Niagara Falls. Niagara Pride also held multiple flag-raising ceremonies throughout the county and championed the state illuminating Niagara Falls in rainbow colors during June.
GLOW OUT – Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming Out – hosted the Batavia Pride Parade and Festival
on Saturday, June 12. The festival, held at Batavia’s Dwyer Stadium, featured performances by drag artists, bands and the Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus. The events were preceded by a 5K Color run held earlier in the week. This was the second time Batavia Pride was held following a successful first run in 2019.
And in Riverside Park in Allegany, Cattaraugus County Pride Coalition hosted its second annual Pride in the
Park on June 27. The community event, sponsored by both Evergreen Health and the Pride Center of Western New York, featured local entertainment and was part of the larger Olean Pride Weekend.
Back in Buffalo, you may have noticed many of our buildings in downtown Buffalo lit up in Pride colors and lots
of lawn signs showed support of Home Sweet Pride. This initiative was part of Evergreen Health's "reverse pride parade," encouraging community members to show their pride by decorating their homes. The concept inspired people that traditionally participate in Pride events to showcase their pride where they live with decorations. The
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community then saw the display when walking, cycling or driving past. Thousands of lawn signs featuring the Progressive Pride Flag were given out at multiple distribution points and at no cost. And people participating shared photos of their homes decked out for Pride Month on social media, community members participated in Speaking with Pride to narrate exactly what Pride means to them.
All of these events in communities throughout Western New York were just a sampling of all the various in-
person, virtual and hybrid ways people were able to show their Pride in 2021.
The business community also stepped up this year to showcase its support of Pride. The presenting sponsors
for Buffalo Pride Week were both Evergreen Health and M&T Bank. Additional BPW sponsors included Barefoot Wine, GEICO Buffalo, Life Storage, Linde, National Grid, Quest Diagnostics, Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Dozens of other businesses also held fundraisers for the Pride Center of Western New York and Evergreen
Health, including but not limited to: Alluring Oddities; Baked with Love Bagels; The Black Sheep; Blue Table Chocolates; Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC; Buffalo Barkery; Buffalo Beauts; Buffalo Sabres; Community Beer Works; Churn Soft Serve; Curtiss Hotel; Femme Fatale; Fig Tree Patisserie, The Grace of Ganja Art Shop; HOMAGE; Homewood Hive; Jumaoyu Designs; The K Haus; Lexington Co-Op; Life Storage; Love Lake Valley; Mercedez Art; Mr. Goodbar; Mister Sizzles; Oxford Pennant; Paloma Exchange; Power Yoga Buffalo; Rebel Ride; Revolution Buffalo; Rollie Pollies; Spruce on Main; Ten Thousand Villages and Undergrounds Coffee House and Roastery.
As restrictions on gatherings continue to lift, expect Pride 2022 to look more like years past with a big parade
and festival in Buffalo. But the past two years have provided much inspiration on how to navigate Pride on a smaller scale with virtual options and much success.
The Foundation Team thanks all of the Buffalo Pride Week sponsors and community partners that held
fundraisers during June in recognition of Pride, as well as the community members that participated either by patronizing one or more fundraising events or by making an independent donation. Your support gives Evergreen Health and its affiliates so much to be proud of.
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