Free wellness resources help people feel good, stay healthy
EASTON, MD:
A free community wellness event with HIV testing, free food, clothes and haircuts, is set for Thursday, November 2, 2023 at Grace Street in Easton.
The event includes free rapid HIV and Hep C testing provided by Talbot County Health Department; free haircuts with Sam the Barber; free socks and dress clothes; free food and free harm reduction information and materials, including Narcan. Shore Legal Access also will be onsite with information about their programs, including expungement.
“We recognize that not only is your physical health and knowing your HIV status critically important, but having a fresh haircut, some food and new clothes helps people feel good. We’re grateful for the community that has grown up around Grace Street – the volunteers, the people who donate, the companies that offer support – whose support has made this event possible,” said Kate Dulin, Grace Street program director.
Grace Street opened August 1 of this year and is the area’s first recovery community organization (RCO). RCOs are a nationally recognized model that help bridge the gap between professional treatment and a successful life in long-term recovery through enhanced supports and services. Chesapeake Charities received a one-year grant from Maryland’s Opioid Operational Command Center to establish the Grace Street RCO.
Grace Street is dedicated to saving lives and fostering healing for anyone affected by substance use. The center delivers an assortment of non-clinical, community-centered, peer recovery support services and training, along with harm reduction resources including the region’s first Narcan vending machine; workforce training and development; overdose prevention activities and resources; and support groups.
Grace Street serves people in Easton and Talbot County, and in neighboring counties across the Mid-Shore. Referrals are not necessary and services are free. The center is open weekdays and Sundays, 4 – 9 pm. and Saturdays 2 – 7 p.m. Daytime hours vary. Anyone interested in volunteering, partnering or supporting this project can contact Kate Dulin, program director, at 410-690-7353 or visit GraceStreetRecovery.org.
This project is supported by the Opioid Operational Command Center. The views presented here are those of the grantee organization and not necessarily those of the OOCC, its Executive Director, or its staff.
Located in Stevensville, Chesapeake Charities is a community foundation that supports more than 135 nonprofit funds that impact a range of charitable causes including animal welfare, arts, education, health and human services, and the environment. To date they have generated more than $32 million in investment and grant funding for charitable projects in ten counties: Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s and Talbot. For more information, contact Chesapeake Charities at (410) 643-4020 or info@chesapeakecharities.org, or visit www.chesapeakecharities.org. Chesapeake Charities is accredited by the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations.
The Opioid Operational Command Center is Maryland’s principal coordinating office for addressing the opioid crisis. Under the guidance of the Inter-Agency Heroin and Opioid Coordinating Council, the OOCC leads Maryland’s opioid-related strategic planning and coordinates the efforts of all state agencies involved in Maryland’s opioid crisis response, various community partners, and all 24 local jurisdictions throughout the state. The OOCC can be contacted by email at help.oocc@maryland.gov.