Project Weber/RENEW to open the country's first state-regulated overdose prevention center

Opioid litigation settlements will fund the center, which will open in 2024 in Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Project Weber/RENEW, in partnership with CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, today announced that it will open the country’s first state-regulated overdose prevention center in early 2024. The center, which will be located in Providence, will prevent overdose deaths and provide critically needed services, including the ability to use pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of trained staff. The surging overdose epidemic claimed a record high 435 lives in Rhode Island in 2021.

Funding for the center’s first year of operations comes from opioid settlement funds distributed to Rhode Island, totaling $2.6 million. Project Weber/RENEW and clinical partners CODAC were selected for the project by the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

“This is a historic and humane step forward in the fight against the epidemic of overdose deaths,” Project Weber/RENEW Executive Director Colleen Daley Ndoye says. “With more than 100,000 people dying in this country every year–and hundreds in Rhode Island alone–it is time for us to take action to keep more people from dying. No one can make the decision to ask for support and help, let alone decide to enter treatment or recovery if they are dead. We have many years of experience as a peer-led organization, and we’re ready to make Rhode Island a leader in a new era of harm reduction.”

Overdose prevention centers (sometimes referred to as “safe consumption sites” or “harm reduction centers”) offer an array of services under one roof–almost all of which are already offered at Project Weber/RENEW’s current drop-in centers in Providence and Pawtucket. These include: access to basic needs such as food, water, and hygiene products; safer use supplies and Narcan/naloxone; case-management services, HIV and hepatitis C testing and linkage to care; housing support; peer recovery coaching; and support groups; among others.

Additionally, the overdose prevention center will also allow people to use pre-obtained substances under the supervision of trained professionals. Staff will make sure every individual has the opportunity to test their drugs for fentanyl and other substances and will also be on hand to make sure someone does not overdose or to help reverse an overdose. When a potential overdose is spotted early, it can be quickly and effectively reversed.

Legislation that authorized the creation of an overdose prevention center in Rhode Island was recently amended and passed by the state legislature. These vital bills were sponsored by Rhode Island State Senator Josh Miller and State Representative Jay Edwards. That law will now sunset in March 2026, allowing for the time needed to get the facility open, operating, and evaluated.

Data has shown that no one has ever died at an overdose prevention center anywhere in the world in the many decades they’ve existed. Recent data from the two overdose prevention centers operating in New York City show that they reversed more than 600 overdoses in their first year of operation, with only a handful needing EMS services.

The Rhode Island Department of Health will regulate the overdose prevention center through a comprehensive set of requirements. A rigorous evaluation will be conducted by The People, Place & Health Collective at Brown University’s School of Public Health to measure the program’s individual and community outcomes. Researchers at the Collective have combined decades of experience evaluating harm reduction interventions, including overdose prevention centers in other countries. Project Weber/RENEW Deputy Director Ashley Perry and Overdose Prevention Program Director Dennis Bailer, both people with lived experience, will be co-directors of the space.

“It’s impossible to overstate how important an overdose prevention center is. It will help save so many lives!” says Bailer. “People die when they use alone, and they don’t have to be alone. More people are dying now than ever before because the entire illicit drug supply is contaminated with fentanyl and other drugs. Overdoses are also now skyrocketing in our Black and Brown communities. It’s imperative that we do what we can to help keep people alive, and right now that starts by opening spaces like this overdose prevention center.”

The proposed location for the center is on Huntington Avenue in Providence, which is an overdose hotspot with no direct residential neighbors. The center, which will be open on weekdays, will be staffed by Project Weber/RENEW and CODAC, the state’s largest provider of nonprofit outpatient services for opioid use disorder. Staff will include experts with lived experience, including peer recovery specialists, nurse practitioners, and doctors who can prescribe suboxone and methadone.

Project Weber/RENEW and CODAC have begun reaching out to residents and stakeholders directly about the project. Both organizations are committed to working closely with state, local and community leaders ahead of and during the center’s operation.

“CODAC is excited and honored to partner with Project Weber/RENEW on this initiative,” CODAC CEO Linda Hurley says. “The work of the overdose prevention center is evidence-based, proven to save lives. It is a critical piece of the continuum of care needed to assist and protect our community members who are suffering from substance use disorders.”

For media inquiries, please contact Evan England at Back Channel Communications at evan@gobackchannel.com or Mikel Wadewitz at Project Weber/RENEW at mwadewitz@weberrenew.org.

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ABOUT PROJECT WEBER/RENEW
Project Weber/RENEW is a peer-led harm reduction and recovery support organization that operates drop-in centers in Pawtucket and Providence, as well as daily outreach services in Kennedy Plaza in Providence and via street outreach. In 2022, Project Weber/RENEW provided services to 6,000 individuals, including case management, harm reduction supply distribution, support groups, basic needs, linkage to treatment and housing, and HIV/hep C testing and linkage to care. Project Weber/RENEW distributes more than 10,000 doses of Narcan every year. Find out more about Project Weber/RENEW at weberrenew.org or @weberrenew.

ABOUT CODAC
Founded in 1971, CODAC Behavioral Healthcare is Rhode Island’s oldest and largest nonprofit, outpatient provider of treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. With seven community-based locations, CODAC is well-positioned to deliver services wherever they are needed across the state. For more than 50 years, CODAC has worked with individuals, families, and communities in Rhode Island. CODAC provides comprehensive outpatient and community-based resources to those living and struggling with the challenges of substance use disorder and behavioral healthcare issues. For more information, please visit codacinc.org.