With the massive increase in heroin use and the rise in overdoses hitting Northern Kentucky, the City of Taylor Mill is teaming up with Kenton County, The Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, PDS and the Northern Kentucky Health Department to educate citizens on how to protect themselves, their friends and family, and their community.
Working together with county organizations, the City of Taylor Mill will join the campaign with a door-to-door drive on Saturday, November 11th to distribute nearly 7,000 informational door hangers to residents throughout the city and sections of South Covington.
Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann, Mayor Dan Bell and other members of the Taylor Mill City Commission will be joined by volunteers to canvass neighborhoods. Volunteers are encouraged to meet at Park Place Community Center, 5614 Taylor Mill Road, Taylor Mill at 9:30 a.m.
“This is a fight where all communities must be involved,” said Mayor Dan Bell. “We need everyone to be aware of the dangers of heroin and understand that help is available.”
Kenton County, in collaboration with the Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, and Boone and Campbell Counties, has created a regional heroin helpline to provide quick response for people in need.
“The Northern Kentucky Addiction Helpline is a critical tool in helping those struggling with opiate and heroin addition,” said Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann. “Streamlining access to treatment saves lives, and bringing our community together to spread the word about the helpline is an important part of this effort.”
The helpline number is 859-415-9280, and it is staffed 24 hours per day.
St. Elizabeth Medical Center experienced 1,548 overdose emergencies in 2016, over 200 drug-related deaths, and more than 100 babies born to addicted mothers. The crisis is striking every city and neighborhood, regardless of socio-economic profile.
Community partners working with county leaders have taken the following steps so far to tackle the growing problem:
* Creating the Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, led by Kim Moser, to coordinate how our region attacks this epidemic.
* Establishing a nationally recognized substance abuse treatment program at the Kenton County Detention Center that is currently working with 125 men and women, making it one of the largest treatment facilities in Northern Kentucky.
* Starting the Regional Heroin Helpline – 859-415-9280 – that has already been recognized as a model in the Commonwealth of Kentucky for helping residents access treatment.
* Adding Boone, Campbell and Kenton Counties to the federally-designated High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), to make additional resources available to our local law enforcement agencies.
* Establishing a Quick Response Team, mixing the best qualities of multiple first responder agencies, to intervene with individuals who have previously overdosed.
For more information, or to volunteer to distribute door hangers on Saturday, November 11th RSVP to Kenton County Fiscal Court’s Digital Communications Coordinator Sara Sgantas at Sara.Sgantas@KentonCounty.org or by calling (859) 392-1400.
From Kenton County Fiscal Court
