BURLINGTON — The state’s largest program providing drug users with clean needles and overdose reversal kits is losing the majority of its funding, and Kristin Lundy wants to help.
Lundy and her husband Jack Pilla are members of the Long Trail Running Club, a meetup group for trail runners in the Burlington area.
They lost their 23-year-old son to a drug overdose in 2011.
The Long Trail Running Club will host a screening of “Run Free: The True Story of Caballo Blanco,” a documentary about the life of Micah True, nicknamed Caballo Blanco, who pioneered the ultramarathon, a 50-mile foot race.
Gary Harrington, an independent adventure film promoter, is on tour with the film and plans to screen it in 100 cities.
Harrington reached out to Pilla for help organizing a January showing at Merrill’s Roxy Cinemas in Burlington. Local running clubs sponsor the screenings and 10 percent of ticket sales typically go to the club.
But because the Long Trail Running Club has no fees associated with membership, and few costs aside from the meetup site, Pilla asked his wife if she would find a local charity to help with the ticket proceeds.
Since her son’s opiate overdose death Lundy says she has been looking for ways to help other families avoid a similar loss. She favors organizations that “promote harm reduction,” she said in an email. Harm reduction is a public health principal that focuses on practical strategies for curbing the negative impacts of drug use.
It is the guiding principle for Safe Recovery, which in addition to clean needles, disease screening and the overdose reversal kits provides addicts with counseling and referrals to drug treatment as well as other supportive services.
When VTDigger first reported that the program was going to lose a federal grant that comprised the majority of its budget, Tom Dalton, the program’s director, said his staff would no longer be able to provide counseling.
“We’re basically at the point now where we can provide you with syringes and naloxone, but we’re not able to help as much with recovery,” Dalton said.
The Howard Center, which operates Safe Recovery, is asking the state for $140,000 in next year’s budget to keep the staff it needs to provide drug users with the support they have had in the past.
Howard Center holds an exclusive state contract to provide substance abuse and mental health services in the region. Officials says they’re not able to shift money within the organization’s $89 million annual budget to shore up the program.
After reading the article, Lundy reached out to VTDigger for help connecting with Howard Center officials who quickly jumped on board. In addition to a portion of proceeds, the nonprofit will have a booth at the “Run Free” screening to share more information about the Safe Recovery program.
“I knew of Safe Recovery because a family I know that found out that their child was in serious danger had gone there to get naloxone. Knowing that the most dangerous time for overdose is when they are trying to recover, they were realists and chose to have it on hand,” Lundy said.
Naloxone is a drug effective at reversing the effects of an opiate overdose. It often known by the brand name Narcan, a common nasal injector — the type available from Safe Recovery.
Another family who lost a son after many years of attempted recovery recently told her that the son had Safe Recovery’s card in his wallet when he died. That family told her they were always thankful their son had not contracted Hepatitis C while injecting drugs.
Lundy said at first she had some trouble connecting the cause she wanted to support with the running club and documentary, but in the end that didn’t deter her. “Runners in general want to share the healthy lifestyle we’ve found and are often running for a cause, so I knew I had some wiggle room,” she said.
Harrington, an ultrarunner himself, said he’s pleased that the screening will support a good cause. Returning to Burlington will be a full-circle moment for the promoter, who ran cross country at St. Michael’s College and graduated in the class of 1982.
The screening will take place Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Roxy, 222 College St. in Burlington. For more information on the film “Run Free” click here.
Correction: In an earlier version of this story film promoter Gary Harrington’s name was misspelled.
