Brattleboro’s Community Safety Expo focuses on connections and solutions | Local news

BRATTLEBORO — Social service agencies and police are trying to get creative in meeting needs and addressing community safety.

Justin Johnston, a former employee of Turning Point of Windham County, is the Brattleboro Police Department’s first community resource specialist. With the data coming in much faster in the new job, he was able to make quicker connections in the community, he said.

“It felt really good to be able to respond to everything in like 15 minutes,” Johnston, who joined the department about three weeks ago, said at the second annual Community Safety Expo and Forum at the New England Youth Theater on Wednesday.

One of their main responsibilities is to direct overdose victims to resources for treatment or recovery. He is also in the recovery process.

“He understands the whole dynamic of addiction, which is why I hired him,” said Brattleboro Police Chief Norma Hardy. “I know he can have a conversation that I can’t have with others.”

Outreach is also a major focus for Health and Rehabilitation Services. HCRS Executive Director George Karabakakis said the group is currently implementing an “enhanced mobile intervention” in which two staff members meet with people experiencing mental health or substance use issues to share resources or offer support.

A new initiative at the Brattleboro Food Co-op aimed at helping homeless community members is offering food for free to anyone who wants it. Space in the store is also reserved for community partners who can connect individuals with temporary housing, drug treatment or food assistance programs.

In addition to testing for HIV and hepatitis C, the Southern Vermont AIDS Project also checks people’s medications to see what’s inside them. At Groundworks Collaborative, case management may include assistance finding housing or taking steps toward sobriety. Turning Point meets people in their hotel rooms, campsites or homes and provides recovery coaching. Organizations also work to eliminate stigma against people facing substance use disorder or homelessness.

Brattleboro Fire Chief Len Howard told overdose victims interacting with emergency personnel to “leave the kits behind” containing cards and other resources from Turning Point. The fire department will soon train community members on how to administer medication and give CPR to prevent overdoses.

Cora Cobane, Groundworks’ outreach case manager, described being “a little scared” of working with the homeless population. Within the first week, Cobane discovered that “what a lot of people were looking for was a connection.”

“They want to feel seen,” Cobane said, admitting that being demanded for money can be “scary” and advised sharing their concerns with someone if it makes them feel unsafe.

Groundworks outreach case manager Ava Zelkowitz said training is provided throughout the city so participants feel better equipped to deal with individuals with substance use disorders. De-escalation training is also recommended.

“Keep yourself safe,” Zelkowitz said. “Start by treating people with dignity. We all have bad days.”

During a listening session hosted by the Select Board at the event, Spoon Agave of Brattleboro said the town is on a “downward trajectory” as more people face homelessness and other issues due to growing wealth disparities. He suggested the board’s recent actions to improve community safety could make the problems worse.

“Covering up the problem will cause the ship to overheat,” he said. “The Board of Elections has to admit that they don’t know what to do, because when you say that… you’re bringing it up. You’re asking for advice, you’re asking for opinions.”

Agave said unconventional ideas to solve some of the city’s problems will require an “open mind.”

Gary Stroud of Brattleboro, a member of several committees in town, urged community members to show compassion and help in any way they can. For example, he said he transports families to the Putney Food Shelf.

“You don’t have to wait for the seal of approval to be human,” he said. “You don’t have to be well-known or on a soapbox.”

Stroud said humanizing others will reduce stigma and help “lift them up.”

“We make a lot of assumptions and generalizations about people we don’t know much about,” said Board President Daniel Quipp, urging members of the small community to learn about each other, suspend judgment, and also look out for each other. responsible.

Susan Belville of Brattleboro, who has seen a larger police presence and a successful community policing approach, said she has noticed a “change in tone” in the town over the past few weeks.

“It feels less threatening,” he said. “It feels better.”

Belville acknowledged that more work still needs to be done.

“But this is a huge step forward from where we were three months ago,” he said.

Hardy, who described Brattleboro as full of drugs and dealers, said he is a big advocate of having long-term care and living sober in the city. Turning Point suggests the latter.