Alliance for Positive Change has been awarded a federal funding allocation for our new Accessing Options for Opioid Management (Options) program, which expands access to trauma-informed harm reduction and substance use treatment for women living in New York City. Alliance’s Options provides supportive services for low-income cisgender and transgender women to navigate systemic inequities to health and well-being.
“We are grateful to Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand for investing in community-based organizations and allocating funding to advance health equity in New York,” said Brenda Starks-Ross, Alliance’s Deputy Executive Director and COO. “With this funding, Alliance will significantly expand our programming for women to explore options for harm reduction and substance use treatment in a safe, welcoming space. In the face of the overdose crisis, we advocate for the dignity, health, and safety of every individual’s chosen pathway to positive change.”
"All New Yorkers deserve to have access to medical, behavioral health and trauma-informed services," said Senator Gillibrand. "This investment in the Alliance for Positive Change Options program will advance health equity and provide women in New York City with expanded options for harm reduction and substance use treatment. I am proud to deliver this funding and will continue to fight for federal resources to improve health outcomes for all New Yorkers.”
“I am proud to support Alliance for Positive Change’s Options program to improve health outcomes for low-income, marginalized women with substance use disorder,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “With New York City experiencing a record number of overdose deaths each year, it is so important we continue to invest in community-based organizations combating the overdose crisis. This $500,000 in federal funding will expand access to Alliance’s opioid management program and help New Yorkers overcome barriers to equitable healthcare. I won’t stop fighting to deliver the resources needed to support local organizations like Alliance and their work to help the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
Alliance’s Options creates a safe space for women to receive support and resources that address underlying trauma, depression, stigma, and substance use. By addressing social determinants of health—such as food insecurity, housing instability, violence, trauma, and poverty—Options will improve access to medical and behavioral health and recovery support services. Alliance’s Options leverages Peer-led learning among program participants and staff where women can receive support and resources that will result in reduced hospitalizations, reduced emergency room utilization, and improved health outcomes for women in New York.
Overdose deaths in New York City continue to rise. The NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene reports that in 2022, there were 3,026 overdose deaths in New York City, an increase of 12 percent from 2021 and the highest number on record since reporting began in 2000. Alliance’s Options program will address this concerning trend by providing New Yorkers who use drugs with health care, connection to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), recovery support, Peer counseling, and other vital services.
Women’s History Month at Alliance LES Harm Reduction Center: Evelyn
Women’s History Month is a chance to honor the progress of women across all fields. Women have played tremendous roles in the history of all the services that Alliance provides, including HIV testing, treatment, awareness, and advocacy; income equality; fair housing; and more. In the field of harm reduction, women have led agencies from the National Harm Reduction Coalition to Harm Reduction International and New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition.
Participants at Alliance LES Harm Reduction Center shared their experiences and perspectives during Women’s History Month.
Evelyn M.
Q: Hi Evelyn. Thanks for talking with us. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A: Well, I’m 64 year-old Nuyorican. I live in the neighborhood, just a few blocks away.
Q: What do you like to do for fun?
A: I like going on long walks, fixing things like broken furniture, and being with my sisters, who live further up the East Side. But when I’m on drugs, I avoid them. I don’t want my problem to become theirs.
Q: How long have you been coming to Alliance LES Harm Reduction Center?
A: I started coming here a little more than a year ago. I get safer smoking supplies like pipes, and I get counseling and care management services here. I get Methadone at a clinic nearby, but it’s not enough to help me overcome drugs, which is my goal.
Q: What other resources do you think will help you with your sobriety goals?
A: I think I have a better chance if I move somewhere else. Being around the same people that I’ve done drugs with is enabling my habits, I’ve got to move somewhere else. NYCHA has approved me for a housing transfer, but I haven’t been able to find somewhere closer to my sisters.
Q: Affordable housing is complicated.
A: Yeah, it is. Ana, my counselor, and my case worker Luis, are amazing. They help me get my benefits. And Luis is trying to help me get me into Bellevue Hospital’s detox program. They check in every day they see me, and try to get me a bed, because I’ve got to detox, I have to. He got me a telehealth appointment and sat with me the whole time, for my Bellevue screening. But I don’t want to go to detox until I can move somewhere away from the people that enable my addiction, so it’s all pretty complicated.
Q: Besides being with people that you feel enable your drug use, what are your biggest triggers?
A: Feeling depressed, and anxious. Talking to Ana and a psychiatrist helps, but I can’t do that every second.
Q: You’re a participant in our CHOICES Medication-Assisted Treatment program, right? How does that fit into your life?
A: Yeah, I like going to groups to hear other people’s stories. Listening helps.
Q: Are there any specific services just for women that you can get here?
A: I like that we have a women’s group here, to discuss what’s going on in our lives. I like that there’s a clothing room here and we can get clean pads and panties.
Q: In your experience, what are some of the challenges that women who use drugs face more than men?
A: I think women who are on parole or actively using drugs have a harder time getting hired for jobs than men in the same situation. I think people underestimate us a lot.
Q: Since it’s Women’s History Month, can you tell us who are some of your sheroes?
A: Definitely Helen Keller. She was so brave and overcame so much.
Q: If you weren’t using actively, how would life be different?
A: Well I would spend more time with my sisters, going to amusement parks and movies, like we do when I’m sober. And I also want to move out to Pennsylvania to be near my son and grandkids. They’re out in the country, I think that would be nice, relaxing for me.
Women’s History Month at Alliance LES Harm Reduction Center: Cecilia
Women’s History Month is a chance to honor the progress of women across all fields. Women have played tremendous roles in the history of all the services that Alliance provides, including HIV testing, treatment, awareness, and advocacy; income equality; fair housing; and more. In the field of harm reduction, women have led agencies from the National Harm Reduction Coalition to Harm Reduction International and New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition.
Participants at Alliance LES Harm Reduction Center shared their experiences and perspectives during Women’s History Month.
Cecelia C.
Q: Hi Cecilia. Thanks for talking with us. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A: Sure. I’m 53 years old. I’m multiracial. I live in the neighborhood here, near Chinatown and the LES.
Q: What are some of your hobbies?
A: I like to cook, exercise, go bowling, go to the beach, see movies, lots of stuff. I’m very clean and like to have order--I have a lot of OCD, haha.
Cecilia
Q: What have been your drugs of choice?
A: Heroin has always been the big one. I was addicted and living on the streets, and a few years ago I legally died for 10 minutes during an overdose. When I was revived I decided I wanted to cut back on my use and eventually stop all together.
Q: In your experience, what are some of the challenges that women who use drugs face more than men?
A: I can’t speak for all women, but I was raped on the streets. I was living on the streets for two years. And I’ve been in toxic relationships, which have always been one of the big triggers for my relapsing or using way too much. I want to feel like my true self, and stay away from these triggers.
Q: How long have you been coming to Alliance LES Harm Reduction Center?
A: I’ve been coming here regularly for a little over a year now. I knew for a while that I wanted to change the way I was living and stop using drugs. I was tired of using drugs and not feeling like myself. I saw the LES Harm Reduction Center because I live in the neighborhood and immediately was welcomed.
Q: Since you said you’re trying to stop taking opioids, what does your treatment plan look like?
A: I’ve been on Methadone for a while (not through Alliance), and it helps control my cravings, but I don’t want to be dependent on any substance anymore. My Methadone prescription used to be 80, now it’s down to 60, and eventually I’m going to get it down to 0. And Ana, my counselor that we’re here talking with, is amazing. She connects me with the right people to access my benefits. I feel comfortable with her because she’s supportive and gives me good feedback.
Q: And have there been any big challenges in your treatment?
A: Nothing major. I’m very strong-minded. I have goals. I’m trying to get my kids back. They’re in foster care now.
Q: Finally, since it’s Women’s History Month, can you tell us who are some of your sheroes?
A: My shero is my godmother. She has always been very supportive. So is my younger sister, who is the mother of two kids with autism.
Cecilia with Ana (Edmonds)
Alliance Weather Advisory for Tuesday, February 13
Due to weather conditions in New York City, Alliance offices and community center sites are working with limited staff tomorrow, Tuesday, February 13rd.
Staff are working remotely so if you need service, please reach out to your case manager via phone. If possible, try to stay inside and limit your exposure to the cold. Alliance community centers will reopen on Wednesday, February 14th.
Ashley New York Times LTE on Narcan Saving Lives in Nightclubs
“When I worked in some of New York City’s largest clubs in the early 2000s, I saw the importance of keeping Narcan on hand. At venues where we didn’t have it, people who overdosed were often sneaked out back doors and left by dumpsters until a private ambulance service arrived,” says Outreach Coordinator Ashley Lynch in a letter to the editor published today in The New York Times.
“At more proactive places that stocked Narcan and wanted employees to be trained on how to use it, overdoses were reversed inside even before paramedics arrived. It was the responsible thing to do”.
Alliance Peer Nicky Bravo Pens Op-ed for AM New York on Peer Outreach
Alliance Peer Nicky Bravo shared her perspective on how Peer health outreach has helped her support vulnerable New Yorkers, and manage her own health needs, in a powerful op-ed in AM New York. As an Alliance Peer, Nicky has helped hundreds of New Yorkers navigate systemic inequities to improve their health outcomes. Thank you Nicky!
I found a community that supports and trusts me
I learned about Alliance for Positive Change from a friend in 2007. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to attend a group meeting to see if Alliance could help me with the substance use issues I was experiencing at that time.
I am so glad I decided to take a chance with Alliance! I found a community where I felt supported and believed in. I also found my ultimate calling in life: helping others facing similar challenges.
In the first phase of my Alliance journey, I worked in the Basic Needs Department. I got my food handler’s license and served meals to Alliance’s participants. After gaining that work experience, I moved on to another job for a few years, but always felt I was on a hamster wheel. After speaking with a friend who was an Alliance Peer, I enrolled in Alliance’s Peer training program.
I made the right choice coming back to Alliance. I felt so at home at Alliance’s LES Harm Reduction Center. I honed my Peer superpowers of active listening and resourcefulness. I help whoever comes through these doors—no matter what challenges they face—with whatever they need, whether that's a support group or medication-assisted treatment to stop or reduce their drug use.
Alliance has helped me maintain my well-being. If you don’t have your health, you can't help yourself or others.
I am one of thousands of people whose lives changed thanks to Alliance's caring community. That’s why I’m asking you to generously support us this holiday season. You have the superpower to change lives by donating today at www.alliance.nyc/power.
Thank you for being our valued partner in positive change!
Celeste C.
Alliance Peer Superhero
P.S. Your donation is 100% tax-deductible. Visit www.alliance.nyc/power to learn more!
Thanks and well-wishes for Shantae Owens on his next chapter
Alliance is grateful to Shantae Owens for his more than a decade of outstanding work as a harm reduction Peer outreach worker. In that time, he has saved dozens of lives by acting fast to reverse overdoses, and has helped other people access essential harm reduction services to prevent overdoses in the first place. As he moves on to an exciting new position with our friends at VOCAL-NY, here’s what his colleagues had to say about Shantae:
“Floyd—my mentor,—and Shantae are the best colleagues, great friends, and my famila. Over the past 2 years I've learned so many unique things about harm reduction and prevention thanks to these two wonder men. Both are harm working compassionate people who have went up and above to assist clients and do-workers alike. Providing tool to essentially help individuals grow and make better Choices. Thank you two guys for your service, love and, support” —George
Shantae is a person you would want to learn or teach you about anything about saving a life is heart of gold proves that and he one of most pleasant person to be around and for Floyd theres nothing but nice things and encouraging word you can get from him if you want to stay on the right track you should call on him”—Bernice
"Shantae really cares about helping people. He doesn't mind opening up and making himself vulnerable, which helps other people do the same. He's got a good sense of humor and a great heart" —Dan
“Floyd and Shante were like family and still are to me Floyd was my mentor and my teacher I felt comfortable enough to come to him for anything his vast knowledge I will miss and the stories he used to tell Shantae always made me laugh and we met during training on 35th and 8th Ave and he suggested I come to LESHRC and history was made I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to send them my good wishes they will always have a place in my heart I miss them”—Celeste
We’ll miss seeing you every day, Shantae, but are excited for your next chapter!
Community Promise Stories: Dr. Glenn Jeffery
Q) Can you tell us a little about yourself, and what you do?
A) I grew up in a small Canadian town on a farm in the province of Prince Edward Island, northeast of Maine. I had grandiose dreams of moving to a big city and becoming a renowned psychiatrist, and for better or worse I am still fundamentally that guy.
I have practiced psychiatry and addiction medicine for over 30 years in New York City. I am actually in recovery myself, from prescription pill dependency, on psychostimulants and benzodiazepines.
I’ve worked in a variety of settings, inpatient, outpatient, and in psychiatric emergency rooms, on mobile crisis and assertive community treatment teams, in a state hospital and on Riker’s Island.
Q) How and when did you start working with Alliance?
A) Definitely a higher power sort of moment. I live and take daily walks in the Lower East Side, and one day in 2015 I was walking by the old harm reduction clinic at 25 Allen Street, and on a whim popped in and asked the staff if they needed a prescriber. Deborah Yuelles was one of the people who greeted me and she said “yes, we do.”
Since then, I’ve worked about two days a week at the clinic. A large part of my practice consists of prescribing buprenorphine (also known by its most popular brand name, Suboxone). Buprenorphine is medication-assisted treatment for opioid dependence. I work closely with Jose Sanchez, who is the buprenorphine coordinator. He balances out my neurotic tendencies, and has a calm, suave aura. He’s a wonderful guy.
Q) You said you are in recovery, yourself. When did that start, and why?
A) For many years, since my late 20s, I had received psychiatric treatment for depression and anxiety. Along the way, I became dependent on some of the medications used to treat me, in my case psychostimulants and benzodiazepines.
I got into recovery 12 years ago, at a time when I had crashed hard from a psychostimulant-induced manic episode, got fired from a clinical position, and was unable to work for a year and a half. My late wife My-Lan, a social worker, encouraged me to go to the weekly NYC Caduceus healthcare recovery meetings, which I hated immensely at first, telling myself (and them) “I’m not like the rest of you folks.” The fellowship I have found in meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous have also been extremely helpful.
Q) Can you share some success stories of people you’ve prescribed for?
A) Measuring “success” in my field can mean any number of things. It can be someone staying on Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone), not using heroin or opioids and feeling empowered to move forward in life. One such patient called me five minutes ago and currently works in the recovery field. He’s been through many medical and personal misadventures but has stayed stable and I’m proud of him.
We treat folks from all walks of life, from teachers, artists and graduate students, to people coming out of prison, and re-integrating into society. One of our patients just came off lifetime parole, which is very gratifying to witness. He put a lot of hard work into that, over the years.
Q) You currently prescribe Suboxone. Is that better or worse than other medically-assisted treatments?
A) I think it depends of the individual, and it’s important to hear what the individual is needing. For instance, some people have better success on methadone than Suboxone (buprenorphine). Buprenorphine is less intrusive, typically requiring visits the clinic only once or twice a month. However, some people seem to need the stability and structure of methadone clinics, with their near-daily pick-ups of the medication. Prescribing Suboxone is the same as anything else in harm reduction: meeting someone where they’re at.
Q) What do you see as common risk behaviors for relapses?
A) As they say, “people, places and things,” ie, going back to unhealthy associates or haunts. Or getting the “eff-its,” ie, giving up hope that things can be better. I’d also say coming into big money, is one I’ve seen. Also, unaddressed mental health issues.
Q) You’ve been working in the field for over 30 years. Has harm reduction changed in that time?
A) There’s more openness to decriminalization and resources for people with substance dependency. Some people still get mad about syringes or “vagrancy” and some of the problems that our participants can be involved in, but people understand more that substance dependency is something that needs help. Less punitive, which is nice.
Q) Where else do you currently practice addiction medicine?
A) I also work for Samaritan Daytop Village’s assertive community treatment (ACT) team based out of the Myrtle Ave Men’s Shelter. It’s mostly working with chronically mentally ill folks with schizophrenia or bipolar diagnoses, but many of them have addiction issues as well.
Q) Is there something you’d say that makes you relate better to patients, aside from your history of substance dependency?
A) I try not to be dogmatic about treatment. The idea of harm reduction is to meet people where they are at, using medications that are helpful. For many people that’s enough. Others may find getting spiritual help, in the path of their own choosing, such as you find in 12-step rooms, enhances their recovery. As they say in the rooms of recovery, "Take what you need, leave the rest behind.”
Q) If you could do anything else in your personal or professional life, what would it be and why?
A) I take screenwriting classes. I’m really interested in the stories of my great-great grandfather and my great-grandfather, who were sea captains out of Cape Cod and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They both had wild, mostly self-inflicted, misadventures in their lives. These stories I didn’t find out about until I was hitting some bad times in my own life, and I think in some way they mystically reached out to me at that time. I hope to do them justice someday, by bringing their stories to life.
A life-changing partnership
“Alliance for Positive Change has been a life-changing partner in my personal journey and given me the tools to help hundreds of New Yorkers access essential health services and embrace positive change. Please join me in supporting this amazing organization.
”In my past, I experienced homelessness and substance use. I worked through those challenges and wanted to find a way to support other people facing barriers to well-being.
”In 2012, I was in search of employment opportunities, so I enrolled in Alliance’s Peer training program. I gained insight into my own behaviors while learning how to use my experiences to educate and uplift others. I lead groups on HIV prevention, harm reduction, and other health topics. I love giving people the tools to work toward their goals so they can become the best version of themselves.
”After a decade of doing this work, I can confidently say that my Peer superpower is my openness. I've learned to let others set the agenda and to meet them where they are. It’s so rewarding to hear clients testify about the advances they’ve made in their lives and to see they have more self-confidence.
”Along with critical professional skills, Alliance helped me create structure in my life and provided me with the economic opportunity to live comfortably.
”Alliance makes it possible for so many New Yorkers to thrive! That’s why I’m asking you to support Alliance with a generous gift. You have the superpower to change lives by donating today at www.alliance.nyc/power.
”Thank you for being our valued partner in positive change!”
—Mark G., Alliance Peer Superhero