Serving Baltimore, Saving Lives: One Naloxone Kit at a Time

By Amiya Jenkins, third-year student pharmacist and president of UMSOP’s chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA)

Every year, Walmart and Sam’s Club partner with the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) to fund five community service projects across the nation. When I first learned about this opportunity, my peers, Solomon Jenkins and Ifeatu Menakaya, and I began to ponder what difference we could make in our own community. Knowing that Baltimore had the highest drug overdose death rates in Drexel University’s Urban Health Collaborative research study in 2020, we thought it was only right for us to use our knowledge to take on this challenge. As pharmacy students, we spend years learning about medications and their abilities to prevent and treat diseases. Why wait until we’re pharmacists when we can make change as pharmacy students today?

This is how the Nalox-ZONE project began. We had a simple goal: to educate, distribute naloxone, reduce stigma, and raise awareness. Our message was also simple: Serving Baltimore. Saving Lives. One Naloxone Kit at a Time.

Taking Naloxone Beyond the Pharmacy

After discovering in January that our proposal was selected for funding, we began laying the groundwork for the project. Throughout the spring semester, we communicated with local organizations and developed our plans for how we would bring naloxone to Baltimore residents. By the summer months, we transitioned from planning to implementation as we gathered our supplies and conducted our outreach events at locations such as the Community Resource Fair at Healthcare for the Homeless and Community Fun Day at Mount Pleasant Church & Ministries.

Access to medications means very little if people do not know what it is, how to use it, or why they might even need it. This is why our distribution bags contained more than just naloxone. They included an instruction card, information about where to obtain additional naloxone, and first-aid supplies. We also incorporated teach-back into our education efforts to ensure that they knew how to administer it and teach another person.

By the end of the project, we had distributed 117 naloxone kits, engaged more than 300 community members, and established long-lasting partnerships with local organizations across Baltimore.

But the numbers only tell part of the story.

Breaking the Stigma Around Naloxone

One of the biggest challenges we encountered wasn’t educating community members on naloxone but convincing some people that they should carry it in the first place.

Several were hesitant when we offered them naloxone, believing that by carrying naloxone it was assumed that they must use drugs themselves. Others believed they’d face negative consequences or even be arrested for possession.

This led to some of the most important conversations.

We explained that naloxone is not just for people who use recreational drugs. Anyone could potentially find themselves in a situation where it is needed. “A loved one could accidentally overdose after being prescribed an opioid for pain or someone could witness an overdose in the community,” said Ifeatu. “Having naloxone available could mean the difference between waiting for help to arrive and having the ability to intervene immediately.”

The Conversation I Will Never Forget

At one distribution and education event, a mother approached and praised us for taking the time to do this within our communities. She informed us that her son passed away from an opioid overdose and if only those around him were knowledgeable about this life-saving medication, then maybe her son could be with her today.

It was difficult to hear, but it also reminded me exactly why this work matters. Behind every statistic is a person who had a family, friends, and many others who loved them. A naloxone kit may seem small, but the opportunity to provide it is beyond words.

Going into this project, we knew the opioid crisis heavily impacted Baltimore, but we did not fully grasp to what extent. “It was eye-opening to see the number of people who lost loved ones to an overdose and how many people have either had to use naloxone on someone else or have had it used on them,” said Solomon.

The Work Does Not End Here

Although the formal project may have reached its conclusion, I do not believe the work should end there. As the current president of the School of Pharmacy’s SNPhA chapter, I plan to continue these efforts and make it a routine initiative.

We hope to expand educational opportunities into new communities, continue working with local organizations, and bring along other student pharmacists.

The opioid overdose crisis cannot be addressed by one organization, one profession, or one year-long project alone. It requires a dedicated community to come together, share knowledge, challenge stigma, and make life-saving resources accessible.

You Can Make an Impact Too!

This experience reminded me that impact doesn’t need to be elaborate. It just starts with recognizing a need and asking yourself, “What can I do?” This is a concept the School of Pharmacy teaches within its Pharmapreneurship initiative. For us, the answer was to use what we learned as pharmacy students to help people understand a readily available medication that could potentially save a life.

I hope that everyone reading this feels inspired to identify a need in their own community and take the first step towards addressing it. For those interested in learning where free naloxone is available in their state, we used the Ready2Rescue Interactive Naloxone Access Map during our community outreach. Share this resource with someone who may need it. You never know when one conversation might make a difference.

One kit. One conversation. One life.