Local organization hits music festivals to distribute Narcan kits, educate on overdose

Kathleen Jones
Fri, 25 Mar 2022 02:15:54 +0000
Arts & Life, Instagram Page, News, awareness, college students, Columbus, columbus nonprofit, coronavirus, COVID-19, director-producer, drug misuse, fentanyl, ingela travers hayward, listen up, local nonprofit, music festivals, naloxone, Narcan, non-profit, nonprofit, overdose, pandemic, pickaway correctional institution, target demographic, this must be the place, william perry, WonderBus, wonderbus columbus, wonderbus music festival

Ingela Travers-Hayward and William Perry receive a shipment of naloxone kits, also known as Narcan, for future distribution at music festivals. Credit: Courtesy of Ingela Travers-Hayward

One local nonprofit hopes to make music festivals a little safer this summer.

This Must Be The Place is a Columbus-based nonprofit organization focused on raising awareness about accidental fentanyl overdoses, preventing overdose and telling the stories of those who have experienced drug misuse, Ingela Travers-Hayward, co-director of the organization and an Emmy award-winning director-producer, said. According to its website, the nonprofit aims to accomplish its mission through documentaries, reading programs and Narcan distribution programs at music festivals across the country.

“Our nonprofit harnesses the arts to help people along in their recovery journey, which, you know, was basically born out of a combination of both of our experiences,” Travers-Hayward said. “Perry has experience in recovery counseling, I had experience in the arts as a producer.”

William Perry, co-director of the organization, said creating an environment where survivors of drug misuse are able to share their stories was an important part of their decision to start the nonprofit.?

“We wished that there was a way for each individual story to get told, or at least have its own platform,” Perry said. “And we kind of started creating this idea of, ‘What if there was a platform for that? What if there was a way for people, even if they don’t quite know yet how to tell their story, but a platform for them to explore different avenues of storytelling?’”?

Perry said he and Travers-Hayward met in 2020 when Travers-Hayward visited Pickaway Correctional Institution — where Perry was housed and had contracted COVID-19 — to produce a film on the virus. They realized they had a common interest in helping others and decided to put their heads together to make This Must Be The Place a reality, Perry said.?

After some research, Travers-Hayward and Perry said they found the demographic most affected by accidental fentanyl overdoses were those between the ages of 18-45. This is how the idea for their “Listen Up” initiative — taking their organization to music festivals and distributing free naloxone kits, which can reverse the effects of opioid overdose — came to be, Travers-Hayward said.?

“There are all of these incredible nonprofits that are reaching people in zip codes where overdoses are extremely common — we respect them endlessly. What we want to do is try and get Narcan into the hands of the demographic that isn’t actively being targeted,” Travers-Hayward said. “We thought, ‘OK. Where are they going to be this summer?’ They’re going to be at music festivals.”?

In 2020, over 5,000 Ohioans died from unintentional drug overdoses, with the highest number of fatalities found in Franklin County, according to a report from the Ohio Department of Health.

Although the age group most affected by opioid overdose is broad, college-aged students still fall into the category and often attend music festivals, Travers-Hayward said. She said the issues of drug misuse and overdose for college students hit closer to home than most people — including students themselves — may realize, which makes being able to attend these festivals that much more important to them.

“OSU students are a huge part of the population that we’re hoping to reach and hoping to make realize, like, ‘OK, just carry the stuff on you, just in case,’ ” Travers-Hayward said.?

According to the nonprofit’s website, nearly 40 percent of overdose deaths occur with someone else present, which is why the duo hopes to equip bystanders with Narcan.?

This Must Be The Place will attend nine festivals this summer to hand out Narcan kits, such as WonderBus in Columbus, WonderRoad in Indianapolis and Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle, Travers-Hayward said. The duo will have a booth at each festival and will walk around distributing kits.?

Perry said he has dealt with addiction himself — which led him to homelessness and stays in rehabilitation centers — and his experiences have inspired him to help others avoid feeling what he felt.?

“I wanted to help people who may have been or may be in a similar situation to mine, or help them avoid that situation altogether,” Perry said.?

This Must Be The Place is affiliated with Project DAWN, which stands for Deaths Avoided With Naloxone. Project DAWN is run through the Ohio Department of Health, which then gives affiliates a certain amount of Narcan kits to distribute, furnishing This Must Be The Place’s supply, Perry said.?

Beyond summer festivals, Ohio State students also have access to free naloxone kits year-round through the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State, which is also partnered with Project DAWN. According to the center’s website, the medication can be picked up at its pharmacy locations and can be accompanied by free training on how to use the kit.

“I think their mentality is, you know, the more people we can partner with, the more Narcan we can get out on the streets, the more lives that can be saved,” Perry said.