new york — Greater Harlem Coalition leaders continue to raise awareness of the ubiquity of drug treatment facilities in their neighborhoods. This includes overdose prevention sites in East Harlem that offer legally monitored injections.
GHC’s mission to advocate for neighbors has focused primarily on the effects of addiction.
“What we don’t want is public use, especially in parks,” said GHC co-founder Sean Hill as he strolled through Marcus Garvey Park.
The group recently requested data from state agencies and local clinics and found that East Harlem has 14% of methadone treatment options and only 1.4% of the population lives there. Almost half of the other city districts are empty.
“Addiction programs are crammed into communities of color, but we weren’t sure how true that statement was,” Hill said.
GHC also found that 82% of the program’s patients live elsewhere.
“Ultimately, what we want is for people to have access to treatment, effective treatment in their communities,” Hill said.
The Center for Comprehensive Health Practice faced backlash before moving to its new space on East 110th Street, but when the CCHP was founded in 1960, it sought to provide substance abuse and mental health care for the whole family alongside primary and mental health care. and set ourselves apart from the rest.
Explaining the difficulty of seeking help, CCHP’s chief medical officer, Dr. Marielee Fernandez, said, “Your physical health and self-care should be the least of your worries and your priorities. It won’t work.
Martha Diaz first came to CCHP from the Bronx as a heroin and crack user while pregnant with her first child.
“I was all over the place,” Diaz recalled. “I wasn’t doing anything right, but today I can say that I am a good mother, a good grandmother, and I am there for them.”
Forty years later, Diaz came to the clinic for more community than medicine.
“This is like a second home for me,” Diaz said. “I like this company. I have friends here. I have counselors and doctors. I do everything here.”
Fernandez has now helped Diaz’s family stay healthy for generations.
“I met her kids when they were teenagers,” Fernandez said.
This success provides one example of meeting the needs of the entire community.
The GHC called for a data-driven distribution of drug treatment facilities and proposed legislation to limit the number of facilities within a district.
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