SafeSpot, once the Massachusetts Overdose Prevention Helpline, saved the life of someone very important to me. My boss, Stephen Murray, is the individual that actually saved her life while working as an EMT. Had she not been smart enough to call the helpline, we would have lost her.

This had a profound effect on me. Over the last twenty years, I have lost everyone who mattered to me as a result of drug overdoses. This helpline and others like it could have made all the difference for those I’ve lost. I don’t want anyone to suffer as I have and this helpline is the one thing that can actually change outcomes. I needed to do more.

I started volunteering for the Massachusetts Overdose Prevention Helpline. On June 17th, 2023. I worked on a volunteer basis for a majority of the time since. Stephen really went to bat for this program to get the funding it deserves, and he succeeded and now we are able to earn, which is a huge plus for those of us that initially started as volunteers. Once we realized how far and wide our calls were coming from we rebranded as SafeSpot, and here we are.

I am writing this blog post to raise awareness. I got a call the other day from another person who uses drugs who could not believe that a helpline like ours exists. This made me sad because we can’t safely supervise people if they don’t know we exist. I encourage you to please put our number in your phone just in case. Share the number and share the post with all who will listen. Thanks in advance. This truly makes all the difference. Now let me tell you more about SafeSpot.

The rise in opioid overdose deaths and the widespread availability of potent opioids like fentanyl has created a public health emergency in the United States. This crisis has affected young adults, families, and entire communities. The governor’s overdose task force and community organizations across the country are working tirelessly to address this public health crisis. However, more resources are needed to tackle the social determinants of health that lead to substance abuse and overdose.

Recognizing the need for more life saving options this is when my boss, Stephen Murray, decided to create a helpline that takes your safety and the sasfety of your loved ones extremely serious. SafeSpot exists to fill a critical gap in the system by providing direct, on-the-ground lifesaving assistance to those most at risk.

We’re here because everyone deserves a chance to live, and Stephen decided to do something about it instead of sitting around hoping someone else would do something. He took action and we followed suit.

We believe that overdose prevention is about saving lives—not about judging or shaming people for their drug use. Through harm reduction services like SafeSpot, we can prevent overdoses and provide social support for individuals as they navigate their addiction and seek evidence-based treatment or information related to harm reduction. 

• Overdose Prevention is Critical: SafeSpot offers lifesaving overdose prevention services and provides harm reduction support to people requiring our services.
• Understanding the Signs of an Overdose: Knowing the signs of opioid overdose and carrying naloxone can save lives.
• Resources and Support: SafeSpot offers individuals additional resources, access to treatment-finding options, and social support to reduce substance use-related harms.
• Community Efforts: Overdose prevention efforts and national initiatives, such as the Governor’s Overdose Task Force, are vital in combating the opioid overdose crisis.

As someone who suffered immensely in a nightmare cycle of addiction and incarceration before addiction was determined to be a disease, I can see that harm reduction is a massive win for our team. My life was wasted in jail for petty, non-violent, drug-related offenses before addiction was considered a disease.

I was called a program failure when I had never been to any program, and I was made into the example as a woman who was addicted to heroin and was forced to bring drugs from out of town to sell to support my habit, though never charged with sales before addiction was considered a disease.

I was incarcerated with around seventy-five women who all basically grew up in that jail with me. Every time we went back, no matter what it was for, we were ripped off our mental health meds and maintenance medications, and we were thrown in the hole, in my case sometimes for months. When they believed we were all detoxed they brought us to another locked-down unit where we couldn’t go outside or order commissary. All of these punitive measures for substance users when all of the murderers and kid crimers were walking around freely. We were punished over and over by a failing system that only wanted to incarcerate, not rehabilitate.

This still happens and it’s why I do what I do. It’s why I fight the good fight, and I won’t give up. I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I went through, so when I say harm reduction is a win, I mean it. I have seen where we’ve been, and I don’t have a clue where we are going, but my aim is to normalize sobrietry and recovery, raise awareness, advocate prevention, and reduce stigmatization and discrimination against individuals that use substances because I never got any of that and the moment I did don’t you know I was able to prove them all wrong and show them what we can do daily—progress not perfection, friends.

Please spread SafeSpot’s number and be a part of the solution. When you call, be sure to thank Stephen and our operators for being the rock stars they are. 

If this post resonated with you or you have something you would like to add or share, please do so in the comments below. You know I love to hear from you. You could also support my work by liking, sharing, commenting, subscribing, following, and registering to join our free-of-charge, supportive, all-inclusive, judgment-free, meet-you-where-your-at online community where teachers learn, and learners teach all while working together to #provethemallwrong and #showthemwhatwecando.

In our support forums, you can give support or receive support all on the same day. This community is for all of us who are more progressors, less perfectors. Addiction is not a prerequisite. All are welcome. This is a new, growing community, so please have patience, and if there are any issues, please contact me at [email protected]