Neighbors criticize health department's relocation of syringe exchange program
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — When neighbors learned the Tippecanoe County Health Department planned on relocating a syringe exchange program a few blocks away from three different schools, a petition against the move was created.
The new proposed location, at 2300 Ferry Street, sits near Murdock Elementary, Sunnyside Intermediate, and Lafayette Christian schools.
Opponents to the relocation of the Gateway to Hope program criticized the health department’s decision to move forward on this plan without notifying the community or asking for feedback on the decision.
Katina North, a parent who lived within the community, started a petition, “Stop Needle Exchange by Murdock, Sunnyside, & Lafayette Christian School." Norton hopes the petition will gain enough support to persuade leaders to reconsider the decision.
At the time of reporting, the petition has garnered over 1,500 signatures.
Gateway to Hope program
At the Tippecanoe County Commissioners meeting held on Feb. 21, the county leaders approved a commercial lease agreement between Recovery Café Inc. and the Tippecanoe Health Department.
The lease indicated the landlord, Recovery Café, would be leasing a portion of the building to the county in 12 monthly installments of $1,400.
Prior to Recovery Café ownership of the building, it housed Pediatric Associates of Lafayette, which closed down after Dr. Thomas Padgett and Dr. James Thomas retired from their practices.
During the meeting, neither Recovery Café nor Tippecanoe Health Department provided an in-depth explanation regarding the health department's reason for relocating to the proposed location.
Although Tippecanoe County attorney, Doug Masson, did mention the lease agreement for Gateway to Hope before the vote.
It wasn’t until after the meeting that reporters questioned Liz Richards, director of Recovery Café, and Dr. Gregory Loomis, the county health officer, about the approved lease.
One portion of the building would be used to house Recovery Café Lafayette, and another would be allocated to the county to house its Gateway to Hope syringe exchange program.
Recovery Café Lafayette is a small café where individuals who are on the road to recovery − from addiction, trauma, homelessness or mental health − can go in hopes of finding a supportive community aimed at helping people achieve long-term recovery.
Although the Tippecanoe County Health Department did state the program would be moving locations during a Dec. 5, 2022, Tippecanoe County Commissioners meeting, the location was not stated.
What is Recovery Café
Recovery Café offers members meals, education, relapse prevention classes, and access to community services like helping individuals schedule doctor’s appointments, and other resources of that nature.
In order to become a member, individuals need to be drug- and alcohol-free for a minimum of 24 hours, must participate in weekly recovery circles, be willing to participate in community events and follow the café’s principles, which are aimed at creating a comfortable environment for those in recovery. The café primarily offers services between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the week.
“It is a love-based program. We believe that everyone is in recovery from something, and we strive to just support them wherever they are at,” Richards said after Feb. 22 meeting.
“We believe in loving and accountability and radical hospitality. And we truly just want to implement ourselves in their lives to show that they have support and the right people in their corner.”
Loomis explained that the syringe exchange program would be moving out of its current location at the Lafayette Transitional House Center to the Ferry Street location out of a need for additional space. The LTHC is located across the street from Oakland High School.
“One of the main reasons is not so much Lafayette Transitional Housing, as it was that we needed space,” Loomis said. “Right now, the space that we’re in doesn’t allow any privacy for the clients that Grace has, and we have no place for storage.”
The syringe exchange program started back in 2017, with the goal of reducing the spread of hepatitis C, HIV and other communicable diseases among substance users by providing them an opportunity to exchange their used needles for clean needles and hygiene kits.
In 2016 the county acknowledged that it had a public health emergency, after reported cases of hepatitis C had climbed from fewer than 100 in 2011 to nearly 700 in 2016.
According to Loomis, individuals who utilize the program primarily use it for its intended purpose, to exchange used needles for new ones.
Loomis highlighted the importance of this new location, as the county will be able to provide individuals on their path to recovery a “safe place."
“We haven’t been able to do that before because, you know, they work out of Lafayette Transitional Housing. Grace has one desk, and we haven’t provided them with an atmosphere for recovery,” he said.
Loomis also spoke about the potential inclusion of a free clinic brings brought inside the building to help remove some of the burdens from LTHC.
“We’re right across the street from Valley Oaks, we’re on a bus line, we’re .7 miles from what will be we hope the Recovery Café to Lafayette Transitional and were a walk through the park to Sheri Moore’s program at NAMI. So, it could not be a better spot,” Loomis said.
When asked if the health department had notified the school district or families within that location about the move, he acknowledged that he had not contacted them about the county’s plans.
Loomis said he had informed local leaders of the county’s plan.
Parents raise concerns about new location
After the news broke regarding the relocation of the syringe exchange program, community members began reaching out to local leaders in hopes of finding out more information about the decision.
Several families reached out to Lafayette School Corporation Superintendent Les Huddle to get the school district’s input on the matter.
Huddle provided a statement to the community indicating that the school district saw no concern with the program’s relocation.
“The needle exchange program has been in operation since 2017, without incident, says Superintendent Les Huddle. He is confident with the cooperation of the Tippecanoe County Health Dept., operations will continue as usual. Communication with the TCHD has been constructive in the past; should any issues arise, Huddle is confident they will be addressed,” reads the statement released on Feb. 22.
After families read the district's statement, opponents did not believe that it considered the concern that the community felt toward the relocation and hoped that Huddles would reconsider his position.
This was especially true for Katina North, the author of the petition.
“If not prevented, a private business (for whom a spokesperson was quoted as saying that the danger presented to children is 'irrelevant') will be permitted to set up shop and invite these addicts and the criminal activities associated with addiction into the immediate area that many underprivileged children (many of whom are without any other alternative) must walk through (and quite literally right next to the building) to get from home to school and back again,” read the petition.
The syringe exchange program is not run by a private business but instead it is a program run by the state. The petition also did not give attribution to an author.
North told the Journal & Courier she had no issue with the existence of the program or the relocation of the Recovery Café.
She acknowledged that it is an important resource for those in the community who are recovering from substance abuse, and that its existence has helped reduce the number of people becoming ill from communicable diseases due to needle sharing.
But her primary concern was how close the program would be to schools in the area and the type of individuals the program would most likely attract. North also worried about the possibility of used drug paraphernalia being found within the area and within the reach of children walking back home from school.
“One of the comments that Les Huddle made was that there was never a problem before. Well, there wasn’t a problem before because it was not located within a block away from the school,” North said. “So, now you’re actively inviting a problem. You’re increasing your percentage of having incidence happen.
“We were super upset to see that they don’t find a problem with it and that they’re giving it the green light and that stamp of approval."
North said the street right next to 2300 Ferry Street sees a high volume of children walking to and from school on a daily basis.
Tippecanoe health officer response to community concerns
When Loomis began to hear about the reaction toward the relocation of the syringe exchange program, it came as a surprise to him. He said he believed that this relocation wouldn’t have caused any issues with the community seeing as it’s been in operation since 2017.
“If blame goes anywhere, it should go to me, because I truly thought that issue was a dead issue. We had no problem with where Grace is now in Lafayette Transitional because Oakland (High School) is just across the street,” Loomis said. “So, I didn’t think this was going to cause such strong emotion, and I feel very badly about that.”
Although the reaction came as a shock to Loomis, he was glad the community shared their concerns regarding the matter.
“For the neighbor in that area, I appreciate their concerns and I respect their concerns,” Loomis said.
“I’m meeting with a couple of them here tomorrow, and I had no problem doing that because a lot of this is misinformation and fear-based. And after 40 years as a physician, I found the best way to alleviate fear-based concerns is by some simple education tools.
“We want to provide that to the folks and understand this is not a danger to their kids at all. As the health officer, I have as much responsibility to them as I do to the syringe services program, and I would never put anyone in danger.”
Loomis acknowledged that many parents who signed the petition shared their concerns and fear that their child might interact with individuals entering or leaving the exchange program.
“The hours of operation of the clinic are not going to be between school coming and going. We’ve never done that, because we were over by Oakland school before. The program wouldn’t even start before the kids were in school and the program in the afternoon wouldn’t start until the kids were back in school from lunch break. And it would end long before they were dismissed from school,” Loomis said.
Loomis also expressed how it would be difficult to find a location for the syringe exchange program within the city of Lafayette that was both not near a school but was still easily accessible to those in need of the service.
He also shared that syringe exchange services would primarily be offered through scheduled appointments in hopes of reducing the community's concerns about individuals loitering near the property.
“These people are not like what you would think, like you see on TV, drug addicts in the gutters. One of the people that I saw over there at the syringe safety program not that long ago, I ran into that person at PayLess.
“These are people who are using drugs, but they can’t find clean syringes, or they can’t just walk into a pharmacy and get clean sterile syringes.”
Loomis understands that there may be a misconception within the community about what services the syringe exchange program.
“The purpose of the program is to get people into treatment. That’s the whole purpose of the program, not to do some of these things like where they’re doing supervised drug-use programs that they’re doing across the country,” Loomis said.
“We will never participate in any of that. That’s like day and night and has nothing to do with what we’re talking about.”
Loomis also acknowledged parents’ concerns regarding the new location being within 1,000 feet of the schools.
Loomis shared that according to studies conducted by the CDC on syringe services programs, studies showed that participants were five times more likely to enter drug treatment and 3.5 times more likely to cease injecting compared to those who don’t utilize these programs.
When the health department began considering the building near the end of 2022, Loomis mentioned that the department measured out the distance of the property to the schools.
According to Loomis, Murdock Elementary was around 1,234 feet, Sunnyside Intermediate around 1,140 feet, and Lafayette Christian Schools around 1,600 feet.
The J&C measured the distances, and Murdock and Lafayette Christian were nearly what Loomis cited. The entrance to Sunnyside Intermediate, however, is around 1,100 feet from the location.
According to the law, these “drug-free zones” extend 500 feet around the school property, which in this case includes the parking lot behind the school.
From the new location to the edge of the school’s property, the distance measures around 630 feet, which still falls outside of the “drug-free zones.”
Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter at 1NoePadilla.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Neighbors criticize relocation of syringe exchange program
