Substance Use Disorder Help – Project LEAD

“Addressing the Opioid Epidemic in Minority Communities”

“The Cliff of Good Health”

REVIVE! Training and Naloxone/Narcan Distribution

Your organization may be eligible to receive free REVIVE! training and Narcan distribution. Fill out our application.

Opioid overdose treatment Narcan recommended by FDA advisors for over-the-counter use

Referrals

Need a referral for essential services:

  • food and housing assistance,
  • education and employment programs,
  • and behavioral and mental health treatment and counseling,
  • visit an on-line screening and referral platform to self-refer or for family/friends, which will be live on or around July 1, 2023.

If you are in need of immediate assistance, contact in-network providers, listed below. 

 

Project LEAD Network Partners

Linkages
Linkages
Education
Education
Data
Call to Action

About Project LEAD

LEADing Change on the Peninsula, or Project LEAD, is a new substance use disorder and opioid response program by the Hampton & Peninsula Health Districts (HPHD). Project LEAD's mission is to reduce opioid overdose deaths, beginning in the Cities of Hampton and Newport News, where the age-adjusted opioid overdose death rates are much higher than that of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Project LEAD will accomplish this objective through several methods, all of which support HPHD's vision to have the healthiest cities and counties in the state. Project LEAD's strategies include Linkages, Education, Awareness, and Data. Learn more about our strategies below:

Linkages

A referral platform which enables end-to-end holistic social services and continuity of care for a client; including social determinants of health a person may need to be healthy, such as access to food, housing assistance, and transportation. Shared surveillance minimizes the risk of clients falling through the cracks. These referrals allow for the community to work towards a culture of health equity and stigma reduction by providing support for the unique needs of each individual experiencing Substance Use Disorder. If you are interested in becoming a partner in the LEAD network, please contact Adam Hess at adam.hess@vdh.virginia.gov.

Education

Training and education are needed to expand the workforce’s capacity to improve outreach, engagement, and quality of care for populations disproportionately impacted by discrimination. We have partnered with several community organizations to provide REVIVE!, Trauma Informed Care (TIC), Health Equity in Response to Drug Overdose, and Stigma Reduction training to all community and healthcare partners, emergency responders, and health department staff, with a goal to reduce stigma and health disparities in opioid-related treatment. If you are interested in receiving one of the above trainings, please contact Tes La Dieu at taylor.ladieu@vdh.virginia.gov

Awareness

Community outreach via town halls and events will focus on both prevention and harm reduction education and strategies. Stigma reduction language and diverse and equitable representation, as well as translated services, will be prioritized in all awareness efforts. For information on available resources in the community, go to: www.wavy.com/opioid-addiction/

Data

Data and health equity are vital in all aspects of LEAD. Shared data metrics will be used to understand trends and areas in need of most assistance. Each metric uses evidence-based planning principles and will incorporate data-driven feedback throughout implementation. We are working closely with the Framework for Addiction Analysis and Community Transformation (FAACT), a secure data-sharing database which provides analytics to support communities in Virginia responding to the opioid crisis.

 

Call To Action

Fatal drug overdoses have long been a public health crisis in the United States. From 1999 – 2018, nearly 450,000 people died from overdoses in the United States.[i] In 2019, there were more than 70,000 drug overdose deaths. While public health efforts have brought attention to drug addiction as a disease and have improved access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and services, many health inequities have not been addressed.

 

We Want to Hear From You

We want to hear from people who use drugs (PWUDs), those with lived and living experience, and their family and friends.

Please reach out to us if:

  • You need assistance with treatment, harm reduction services (Narcan distribution, syringe exchange, etc.)
  • You need social needs services such as linkages to food, housing, gas/utility assistance, education/employment programs, etc.
  • You are interested in providing feedback on how we can improves services to people who use drugs in our community - we'd love to hear from you!

Contact us at the form below. You do not need to provide your name if you wish to remain anonymous, but please give us a good way to reach you.

Health Equity Resources

Relevant Data

Last Updated: January 26, 2024