Baltimore outreach groups pour in resources after 27 people hospitalized during mass overdose

Community outreach groups continue to lend their support in the Penn North area after at least 27 people were hospitalized for overdoses. 

Since Thursday morning, groups like the Enoch Pratt Library have been on the ground providing resources and life-saving supplies to people at Penn North. A health policy expert at Johns Hopkins says these organizations and peer supervisors play a vital role in reducing overdose deaths in the city. 

"The library is here, and we do have these resources. We do have Narcan and we're here to engage with the community and meet people where they are," said Darrick George, peer supervisor at Enoch Pratt. 

Within the library's peer navigation program, peer supervisors like George serve as role models for recovery, providing guidance based on their own lived experience, resources, and harm reduction tools like Narcan. 

"Harm reduction saves lives," Carolyn Vidmar, community impact manager at Enoch Pratt, said. 

"It can get better, and so many people are living proof of that..."   

Johns Hopkins health policy expert, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, says tools like fentanyl test strips, naloxone, and Narcan are the first step and "help people realize that there's hope, and then eventually connect them to support, treatment...services that allow people to not just stay alive but to get their lives back." 

He says that's where peer supervisors can really make a difference, helping people access treatment…but Sharfstein also says the problem is that treatment has to start right away. 

"If you say I'll refer you, but you can go to treatment in two days, that person is going to be using drugs maybe 5 times over the next two days, and they may lose that momentum to get into treatment," he explained.  

Yet, Sharfstein says that Baltimore is starting to make treatment more readily available, stating, "It can get better, and so many people are living proof of that." 

Peer supervisors are available at the Enoch Pratt Pennsylvania Avenue branch during business hours on weekdays.  

Baltimore residents can call the 988 helpline to speak with a counselor who can help them find treatment.