Full Article by Lori Kersey | West Virginia Watch Charleston City Council is facing a pivotal vote: whether to support a syringe service program at the Women’s Health Center on the West Side. The resolution, backed by five council members including Frank Annie and Chelsea Steelhammer, aims to address the Read more…
Full Article by Taylor Sisk; Photography by Stacy Kranitz | Mother Jones If you’ve ever wondered what harm reduction actually looks like—not just as policy, but on the ground, in real people’s lives—this piece is it. Mother Jones’ photo essay and story follow harm reduction work across Appalachia, including an Read more…
Full Article by Allen Siegler | Mountain State Spotlight The article “As WV officials tout small reductions in drug overdose deaths, epidemic remains at crisis levels” from Mountain State Spotlight offers a critical examination of West Virginia’s ongoing struggle with the opioid crisis. Despite a reported 4% decrease in overdose Read more…
In late 2021, SOAR was successful in securing grant funding from the Mel Wolfe Foundation for a new pilot project, Unstuck Chuck. Unstuck Chuck is SOAR’s syringe pick-up and disposal crew that is implemented each month with the help and direction of peers from the community of Charleston. The idea Read more…
While the country is still wrestling with the COVID-19 pandemic, deaths from drug overdoses have been spiking — and are expected to top 100,000 for 2021. On Thursday, the White House released its plan to address the crisis. Amna Nawaz: While the country is still wrestling with the COVID-19 pandemic, Read more…
President Biden has made “harm reduction” a central pillar of his plan to fight a record number of drug-related deaths, but a conservative backlash is threatening the effort. by Sheryl Gay Stolberg | New York Times Read the Full Article
Activists in Charleston called on Mayor Amy Goodwin to declare a public health emergency. Some health providers and church leaders say the city needs to better address a cluster of HIV cases as well as the rise in opioid overdose deaths. At the city’s riverfront park, Magic Island, kids laughed Read more…
Full Article by Tim Murphy | TheBody In 2021, West Virginia passed some of the harshest syringe access restrictions in the country, setting off a wave of program shutdowns and legal uncertainty. For organizations like SOAR WV, the result was a sharp reduction in services—and a steep rise in community Read more…
Full Article by June Leffler | WV Public Broadcasting Charleston City Council passed a new ordinance restricting syringe service programs—even more tightly than state law. The new rules require programs to host public neighborhood meetings, collect 90% of distributed syringes, and face misdemeanor charges for noncompliance. The CDC and public Read more…
Full Article by Eric Eyre | Mountain State Spotlight As the pandemic forced support groups and treatment centers to scale back, West Virginia’s overdose death toll surged by over 40%—one of the sharpest spikes in the country. The CDC’s early data shows 1,147 lives lost in just 12 months, erasing Read more…