John, 

Last week, the City of Portland, Multnomah County, and the State of Oregon concluded its 90-day fentanyl emergency declaration for the Portland central city.

This doesn’t mean we’ve solved all the problems — but the emergency effort made progress and set us up for more progress on fighting the scourge of fentanyl. 

Over the last three months a tri-government coalition has worked to strengthen alignment between community safety and public health resources, improve access to addiction services, reduce overdoses, and crack down on illegal activity. We’re stronger and more successful when everyone works together better. 

Here’s a quick update:

The good news:

• We increased the distribution of naloxone, or Narcan, through the city in an effort to prevent overdoses.
• We suspended two “bottle drop” sites acting as hotspots for the fentanyl market.
• We improved safety and liveability through enhanced lighting, new security measures, and other crime-deterring strategies.
• We dramatically increased coordination and collaboration between agencies and local governments which will sharpen our response to this crisis in the months to come. 

Our next steps:

• We’ll create an intake facility that can accept referrals from law enforcement and local community organizations to match those seeking treatment with care and supportive services.
• We’ll create more recovery housing for those battling addiction and needing post-detox services.
• We’ll create and support mobile clinics offering Medically Assisted Treatment.
• And we’ll continue learning and building on the progress we’ve made in these 90 days. 

Of course, it’s going to take more than 90 days to solve this crisis. There’s more work to be done. 

This type of work is only possible through continued support from folks like you. My team relies on grassroots donations in order to reach folks where they’re at and communicate about the good work we’re doing. If you support the work I’m doing in central Portland, will you pitch in $5 today?

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

Thanks for your support, 

Tina