GARFIELD PARK — The city launched its public health vending machine program Friday with the unveiling of a machine at a community center on the West Side.
The vending machine inside the Garfield Community Service Center, 10 S. Kedzie Ave., is stocked with Narcan, fentanyl test kits, condoms, tampons, socks, underwear and other health and hygiene products, all free of charge. Narcan is a life-saving medication that can reverse an opioid overdose.
The machine is part of a Chicago Department of Public Health pilot program to prevent overdoses and bring life-saving supplies to public spaces in high overdose areas. Other vending machine locations include the Uptown Library, Harold Washington Library, Roseland Community Triage Center and the 95th Red Line station.
Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke at Friday’s event, calling it the city’s next step in addressing the opioid crisis. The mayor shared a story of his brother’s struggles with addiction, homelessness and trauma that eventually claimed his life.
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“Each of us as elected officials have personal connections to this crisis,” Johnson said. “The service this is providing is life-changing to continue to give families the opportunity to recover and heal so that we don’t have to lose our family members.”
To use the machine, neighbors first create a unique PIN code by completing an anonymous online request form, although Narcan can be dispensed without a code, simply by dialing “1234.” Staffers at the Garfield Park center will help people who don’t have access to a phone.
Fikirte Wagaw, the public health department’s acting commissioner, said a pilot program in Las Vegas inspired Chicago’s vending machine program. The city aims to provide more resources in the coming months such as peer recovery specialists and social workers who will follow up with overdose survivors, Wagaw said.
“The opioid overdose epidemic on the West Side is not divorced from other health crises on the West Side, such as maternal death or rates of HIV,” she said. “This is our mission to address the health inequities that plague the West Side today.”
Health officials say fentanyl is responsible for a surge in fatal opioid overdoses in recent years. Cook County had a record 2,000 opioid-related deaths in 2022, with more than 91 percent of those linked to fentanyl, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Opioid-related death rates are rising among Black and Latino Chicagoans. Gov. JB Pritzker has called the West Side the epicenter of the opioid crisis in the state.
Last year, the city made free Narcan kits available in its 81 public libraries and trained over 300 librarians on how to administer the potentially life-saving medicine.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) said the Garfield Park vending machine, which is decorated with artwork by West Side artist Gloria “Gloe” Talamantes, will help with managing opioid overdoses in his ward. But Ervin acknowledged the challenges of getting people away from substance use, particularly Black men over the age of 50.
“My uncle passed two years ago due to opioids. This has been devastating for families on the West Side,” he said.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford, who was at Friday’s unveiling, is among those who have advocated to expand Narcan’s reach within the city. Ford said he has also lost several family members to opioid overdoses.
“We know that Narcan saves lives, and to have it in areas where people are dying of fentanyl sends a strong message that we know there’s a problem and that we’re dealing with it,” said Ford, has worked alongside the West Side Opioid Task Force for years. “I don’t think people understand how powerful this drug is. Every household should have Narcan to help others.”
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