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Mobile Syringe Exchange Starting In Winston-Salem

The Twin City Harm Reduction Collective hopes a new mobile program will help people in more rural areas get access to help they need dealing with addiction.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A group in Winston-Salem is gearing up to take resources for those battling addiction on the road.

The Twin City Harm Reduction Collective is launching a mobile syringe exchange aimed at reaching people in the more rural areas of Forsyth and other surrounding counties.

Program Director Rachel Thornley says they plan to pick some locations in Forsyth County to make it easier for people to get to. She says they have a van, but are still working out times and locations they'll be available.  She hopes they can get the operation up and running later this month.

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The group offers the only syringe exchange in Forsyth County.  They hope to include that service, Narcan distribution, disease testing and some other programs from the van.  Another goal is to make house calls for people in need as they continue to grow the program.

It's a similar model to Guilford County's GCSTOP program.

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GCSTOP, or Guilford County Solution To The Opioid Problem, offers syringe exchange services through delivery. The program started last March and in a yearly update on Facebook, the group posted that they heard of 364 cases where Narcan they'd given out had been used to save lives and they'd helped 143 people connect to treatment.

To learn more about Twin City Harm Reduction Collective, click here.

To learn more about GCSTOP, click here.

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