Education and Resources Featured Thursday, August 31 in Lincoln Park

Newark (August 29, 2023) – On Thursday, August 31, 2023 from 12pm to 4pm, Newark Community Street Team’s Overdose Response Team will host a community engagement walk in the Lincoln Park area to engage individuals and connect them with services. This event will be in observance of International Overdose Awareness Day.

More than a dozen local partners will participate to help connect the community to much-needed resources including:

  • Addiction Treatment and Services
  • Legal Services
  • Public Health and Testing Services
  • Education
  • Mental Health Services
  • Housing
  • Clothing

“We have to go where people who need help are, and treat them with kindness. Meaningful Engagement matters to everybody in our community,” said Khalil Willis, ORT Outreach Worker.

For International Overdose Awareness Day, NCST’s Overdose Response Team (ORT) will host our 2nd Community Walk to engage, encourage and empower our neighborhoods impacted by the devastating effects of substance use.

International Overdose Awareness Day is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died from overdose, and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind. The 2023 theme “Recognizing those people who go unseen” is about acknowledging people in our communities who are affected by overdose but might go unseen in the crisis.

“The NCST Overdose Response Team wants to see people live. Narcan helps. Narcan Community Education can help more. We need to empower more people to do something,” said Donald “DJ” Jackson, ORT Lead Outreach Worker.

“University Hospital EMS is deeply committed to supporting initiatives that promote community well-being and holistic care. We proudly stand alongside the Newark Community Street Team’s Overdose Response Team as they organize the community engagement walk for International Overdose Awareness Day. By embodying the ethos of ‘I want to see you live,’ this event not only raises awareness about the devastating impacts of substance use but also emphasizes the importance of connection and compassion. Through collaboration with organizations that share our vision, we strive to provide comprehensive care and address the diverse needs of the community we serve,” said Jason Brady, Executive Director / EMS University Hospital.

Ashley Hill Trotter, ORT’s Social Work Manager added, ”It’s been said that the opposite of addiction is not sobriety, but connection. That is why the Newark Community Street Team Overdose Response Team partners with organizations that embody our motto “I want to see you live” by connecting on the provision of care for the community we serve. By working together, we avoid duplicating services and establish multidisciplinary game plans that address the myriad of needs that our participants present.”

ORT’s many partners include Vital Strategies, University Hospital, Newark School of the Arts, Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District, Bridges Outreach, Integrity House, Rutgers Law Associates, Rutgers Public Health Dept., Rutgers Dept. of  Infectious Diseases, New Jersey Department of Health, NJ Dept of Law and Public Safety/NJ CARES, Newark Community Solutions, Northern NJ MAT Center of Excellence, YMCA of Newark and Vicinity NJ Division of Consumer Affairs, Greater Essex Counseling Services, LLC and P.U.S.H.H.

“I Want to See You Live!” Second Community Walk, on Thursday August 31st 2023 for International Overdose Awareness Day from 12-4pm @ Lincoln Park

Launched in 2022, the NCST Overdose Response Team (ORT) was developed in an effort to reduce incidents of both fatal and non-fatal overdose in the city as well as reduce police interactions and arrests associated with substance use. NCST ORT is a community-led program that co-responds to overdose calls in Newark with University Hospital EMS. The Overdose Response Team outreach workers are equipped with naloxone to revive individuals when responding to an overdose. They provide additional harm reduction supplies and education to community members. Following the event of an overdose emergency call, NCST outreach workers and community partners will engage and enroll individuals in supportive services and care coordination, if desired.

About the Newark Community Street Team

The Newark Community Street Team (NCST) is Newark’s community-based violence reduction strategy. NCST draws upon an evidence-based, trauma informed approach to violence reduction. NCST specializes in resolving relationship-based disputes toward a peaceful outcome. We coordinate our efforts with partners, including city agencies, service providers, policy organization, and more in order to improve the quality of life of citizens in the City of Newark. Outreach Workers provide mentoring to youth and young adult ages 14-30 with achieving short-term life goals. Skilled and trained Outreach Workers are the linchpin to success of this initiative. Outreach Workers work individually and as a team to prevent community-based violence, and with this new initiative, preventing overdose deaths.