For the last few months, the Jordan neighborhood association has hosted a naloxone dispensary outside of its headquarters in north Minneapolis. Wrapped in white and red, the “Save a Life Station” is a recycled Star Tribune newspaper box with the coin mechanism removed. Anyone can reach inside and take a naloxone kit — for reversing opioid overdoses — or fentanyl testing strips for free, no questions asked.
Audua Pugh, executive director of the Jordan Area Community Council, can hear the box’s metal door slam when someone uses it. She said it’s become a frequent sound — and one she welcomes to help counter the “beast” of fentanyl.
“It’s prevention of death,” said Pugh, who has been in addiction recovery for 20 years. “Where our offices are located, that’s a high-traffic area of people and product, of drug users, and so I saw the need. I know the importance of it.”
Jim Barrett, a certified peer recovery specialist, and friend Andrew Kamin-Lyndgaard are the people behind the idea. They convert newspaper boxes into harm reduction dispensaries and try to get local service organizations to host them. Another box is inside East Side Neighborhood Services on NE. 2nd Street in northeast Minneapolis.