The Fair will connect community members with vital resources and supports, and celebrate the influx of services now newly available thanks to funding from Measure 110.
Eugene, OR — More than a dozen Lane County addiction recovery, harm reduction and community providers will host a resource fair this Friday, May 17th from 11am to 3pm at the Farmer’s Market Pavilion (85 East 8th Avenue, Eugene.) At the fair, frontline providers will offer information on how community members can connect with local mental health, harm reduction and addiction services. Free harm reduction kits will be distributed; the CDC reports that people engaged with harm reduction are five times more likely to enter drug treatment and about three times more likely to stop using drugs than those who don’t utilize these services.
Organizers will provide food, refreshments and connection to resources to help highlight and celebrate the many new services that have come online locally thanks to funding from Measure 110.
“Lane County providers have been able to scale up street outreach, increasing our presence in the community to build trust and ultimately connect more people with vital services. We know this added presence is making a difference; peer services are up 258% according to the latest Measure 110 data report – that’s more than 220,000 encounters for Substance Use treatment, says Brittiny Raine of CORE, a Lane-county based organization that provides advocacy, support, and harm reduction services to young people. “This event is a celebration of the work providers are out here doing through measure 110, and we’re spotlighting it so that even more people can know who we are and how to access our services.”
WHAT: Emerald Valley Resource Network BHRN Bash
WHEN: Friday May 17th , 11am-3pm
WHERE: Farmers Market Pavilion (85 East 8th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97401)
WHO:
- Plaza de Nuestra
- HIV Alliance
- Center for Family Development
- Restored Peer Connections
- Transponder
- Community Outreach for Radical Empowerment (CORE)
- Daisy CHAIN
- South Lane Mental Health
- Youth ERA
- Ideal Option
- Oregon Social Learning Center
- Looking Glass
- + other community organizations, food and refreshments
About Measure 110: Measure 110 was passed by Oregon voters at the ballot in 2020; the law decriminalized (but did not legalize) possession of small amounts of drugs. The law marijuana tax revenue in excess of $90 million per biennium to go toward funding harm reduction and addiction recovery services. The law also required that savings to the criminal legal system be calculated and allocated to the Drug Treatment and Recovery Services Fund. Measure 110 seeks to create a system that treats people who use substances with a healthcare lens, not a criminal system response. It expanded access to low-barrier addiction services across the continuum of care, including treatment, peer-supported recovery, harm reduction services. Recent legislation passed by Oregon lawmakers reinstated criminal penalties for low-level possession of small amounts of drugs; the Measure 110 services fund remains intact.