Stopping Fentanyl Deaths by Knocking on Doors and Giving Out Overdose Kits

THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE –

Feb. 25, 2024 – On a narrow North Philadelphia street lined with row houses and a busy auto body shop, Marsella Elie climbs the front steps of a private residence and knocks hard on the front door. A middle-aged man appears with a wary look on his face.

“Hello sir, how are you doing today?” asks Elie. She wears a royal blue jacket embroidered with the city government’s Liberty Bell logo.

“Hold on, two seconds. My name is Marsella. I’m working with the city. You heard about the overdoses that are going around in the neighborhood, right?” The man gives a cautious nod.

Elie gestures to the pamphlets and booklets she’s holding, about drug overdoses and local addiction treatment programs. She holds up a box of Narcan, a common brand of the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone.

“So basically, what we’re trying to do is get this in everybody’s household. Have you ever heard of this before?” Elie asks before handing the man a tote bag full of the resource materials, fentanyl test strips, and the box of Narcan.