Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Well, hello there. Welcome back to another week of just say somethings podcast. And so today, I don't have a guest.
[00:00:17] I'm my own guest. And so with this, I want to talk about one of our projects and to give you some idea or thoughts about where just say something as an organization is headed. And the future here excites me just because of all the opportunities that are opening up for us.
[00:00:45] And it comes through collaboration.
[00:00:48] And so our initial funding from the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund, also known as Scorf, was for the design and development of the power collective, which started out with Greenville County Sheriff's office, rise prevention, and just say something. Coming together to form a collective, because together we have the power.
[00:01:26] And so we came together under the name Power Collective to help educate our community about the dangers of opioids.
[00:01:36] Our ultimate goal is to reduce down to zero the number of deaths that we have in our community due to opioid use.
[00:01:49] And so initially, as we got into this, it quickly became apparent that there's more pieces to this puzzle that should be at the table.
[00:02:05] Knowing that, and if you've heard me speak recently, one of the things that I like to say is the opioid issue is larger than any one entity. And so the only way we're going to be able to fight this is collectively. And so, as we think about that, where we had Greenville county sheriff's office, rise prevention, just say something. The biggest piece, one of the bigger pieces we were missing was the mental health side.
[00:02:34] And so we have gone into partnership and have brought in mental Health America, Greenville county, who is also the conveners or the operations behind 988 here in South Carolina. We've brought in Nami, National association of Mental Health Professionals.
[00:03:04] And so, as we look at that, mental health is a huge piece, but also the crisis line. People need to know where to go in order to get that extra help. And so the more that we're promoting our programming, then we're also promoting 988, which is the crisis line. And just as an FYI, you don't have to just call the crisis line for opioid. That's for any crisis that you are in or family or friend or coworker are in at that particular time, because they can connect you with resources locally so you can get that help that you need. Right then the other piece that is missing that we quickly identified is one of our partners that we brought in was Safe Rx, which is where we have 40,000 lockable prescription bottles that were given out to the community for free.
[00:04:13] The thing that really stood out among that is if, when we give out 40,000 of those lockable prescription bottles, we will keep 2.2 million pills from being pilfered.
[00:04:28] Just think about that for a minute.
[00:04:31] 40,000 bottles will keep 2.2 million pills from being pilfered.
[00:04:40] And so, as we look at that, we also know that that's how kids get. Most of them is pilfering them.
[00:04:51] 70% of the teens get pills from mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt, neighbors.
[00:05:01] And they're just going to take two or three out of one bottle so you won't notice.
[00:05:08] So we have that. And so the other piece, so that started a new conversation, and that conversation is about harm reduction. That's always been tough for those of us in the prevention field to talk about, because it's such a new concept, because you are helping people who are already addicted, but you're still saving lives.
[00:05:34] And so when we talk about harm reduction, we talk about not just the lockable prescription bottles, but we talk about Narcan providing that to the community for free. We talk about fentanyl test strips. We, you know, those kind of things that our community, those who are in addiction, that they need to survive.
[00:06:04] And so it also shows us that prevention is even more important.
[00:06:09] But all that to say, we've added another component as part of the power collective. And it is the harm awareness kits that our goal is based on continued funding from scorf, that we're able to make these kits in, put them in some of those cinch backpacks that you see a lot of the kids carrying these days. They have the power collective logo that have 988 on them. And then inside, you see the lockable prescription bottles. You see Narcan, fentanyl test strips, gloves, some other things that people in our community need to continue to fight this fight of addiction. It is an illness, just as heart disease is. And it all is also passed down from generation to generation to generation, just like heart disease and diabetes.
[00:07:13] And so the more we can educate our community, the more we can make our community aware, the better off our community will be.
[00:07:23] So if you want to find out more, if you want to get involved, go to powercollective sc.com.
[00:07:30] you can look at some of our work there. You can request bottles, or if you just want to stop in one day to get a few bottles, you can come to our office at 850 South Pleasantburg Drive, suite 202, here in Greenville. 29607. Come around to the front of our building. We are an office complex and so come around to the front of the building, use the stairs on the right, and we're at the top. Or you can give us a call at 864-467-4099 our goal is, again, with continued funding, that we move beyond our borders of Greenville county.
[00:08:19] We are seeing and hearing the need all over. Our institutions of higher education are starting, are going to start using the lockable prescription bottles in the school pharmacies. Our local hospital systems are going to start using them in their pain care centers, oncology departments, outpatient surgeries. And we have more and more that are signing on, especially in the treatment world, to be able to provide these bottles to their clients, people that are coming to them on a regular basis.
[00:08:55] So just know that these are, they're a new resource for our community, but they're an effective resource for our community.
[00:09:04] And again, we can't do this alone. We have to have your help. So if you want to donate, please feel free to go to just say somethingsc.org and you can make a donation there to help support this great work that we're doing in the community.
[00:09:21] Again, you could reach out to us at 864-467-4099 and I thank you for listening again and look forward to seeing you next week. Have a great day.
