The TRUST Partnership volunteers helped clean up litter around the Waycross- Ware County Public Library Saturday, November 9.
According to their website, www.trustpartnership. com, “The TRUST Partnership is a coalition of members of our community and people in recovery who come together to combat an epidemic. We were founded amid our nation’s evergrowing opioid crisis. We aim to reduce risk and save lives by educating the public on harm reduction and by offering Narcan training.”
The Waycross library is often plagued with litter of all kinds due to the high volume of traffic at the Waycross branch.
“We collected many food wrappers, soda bottles, and beer cans,” TRUST member Sarah Jumper said via social media. “We are happy to report that we found ZERO syringes and NO drug paraphernalia.”
Jumper, who is the interim navigator for the Okefenokee Alliance for the Homeless (OATH), works tirelessly to reduce the stigma surrounding drug use and recovery and housing insecurity.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states, “38 percent of homeless people abused alcohol while 26% abused other drugs in 2022. Most research shows that around 1/3 of people who are homeless have problems with alcohol and/or drugs, and around 2/3 of these people have lifetime histories of drug or alcohol use disorders.”
“The TRUST is happy to show up and clean up,” said Jumper. “We want our community resources to be accessible to everyone, especially those who need it the most. Some people have no other access to the indoors, restrooms or technology. While we might go there (library) to read a book or have a meeting, others go there to escape the elements or use the restroom indoors.”
The TRUST serves people in Pierce, Brantley and Ware Counties and offers a wide range of services, including All Recovery meetings which Mondays and Tuesdays at OATH, 115 Albany Avenue at 1 p.m.
For information about The TRUST Partnership visit www.trust-partnership .com For information about OATH, visit www.oathnsega.or or call (912) 8164399.
OATH is open M-F 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m.
To attend an All Recovery meeting, please knock.
