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Canvass To Save Lives is a novel, data-driven community outreach program that sends trained peer-recovery specialists door to door to share life-saving information and resources on harm reduction and recovery in Providence neighborhoods hit hardest by overdose.

Developed in partnership with RIDOH, Providence Healthy Communities, Amos House and Project Weber/Renew, we launched Canvass To Save Lives in 2021 as a pilot program in Providence’s 02907 zip code to fill the critical gap in reaching people who are overdosing at home and people who are not being reached by traditional harm-reduction outreach efforts. Due to the success of the pilot, earlier this year we began expanding these efforts city-wide.        

One reason Canvass To Save Lives has been so effective is that we use data to pinpoint where overdoses are occurring in a community—down to specific homes and blocks—and deploy canvassers where resources are most needed. The system we have put in place can easily be scaled and implemented in communities across Rhode Island. 

I’d love the opportunity to share our findings with members of the League of Cities and Towns and discuss how Canvass To Save Lives could help reduce the impact of overdose on communities across Rhode Island.