By Josie Beets, Director of National Coordination
As our nation’s opioid crisis continues to grow, communities search for things they can do to respond, real solutions that can make a difference and turn intent into action. At S.A.F.E. Project, we are passionate about making sure communities have the tools and resources they need to successfully reduce the impact the opioid epidemic.
Over the past year, we have learned of amazing work happening across the country. We also recognized that we are in a perfect position to connect communities looking for help with communities who have done the good work. Out of those efforts came the S.A.F.E. Community Playbook.
The S.A.F.E. Community Playbook is a step-by-step guide of how to organize, evaluate and create change in your community to impact the opioid epidemic. Organized around S.A.F.E.’s six lines of operation and using our national network of volunteers and experts, S.A.F.E. staff created a curated list of resources essential to the success of any opioid crisis response.
If you are interested in making a difference in your community, the S.A.F.E. Community Playbook will be your blueprint. It will walk you through finding the right team of community constituents to lead your effort, working together to identify your priorities, and finally, putting your work into action using examples from other communities around the county.
By using this playbook to identify your resources and gaps and connect to promising practices from other communities, you can positively impact the crisis in your backyard.
This playbook is not a cure for the opioid and addiction crisis that communities face. Rather, it is a compendium of strategies, projects, and initiatives: things a community can start doing today to help. These approaches described have been used by other communities that face the same issues and challenges your community may face. It will take collaborative work within your community in order to be successful, and the S.A.F.E. Community Playbook can be your guide.
