COMMUNITY PROFILE SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY’S WEEKLY ‘FEED’ AND OUTREACH. COURTESY OF SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY In Durango, Amy Landrum can be found at Buckley Park on most Sundays. Landrum was a single parent on Medicaid, living paycheck to paycheck when she decided to go to nursing school. “I’ve been treated poorly by the health care system. I get how difficult it can be to try to access services in a hostile environment,” she said. Now a licensed nurse practitioner and a volunteer with Durango Street Medics, Landrum runs a medical supply distribution and free health clinic at the park, alongside the mutual aid distribution and community meal provided by Durango Food Not Bombs. “I frequently witness how incompetent, racist, classist, and profit-driven U.S. health care can be,” said Landrum, who has been working as a health care professional for over 10 years. “I can’t topple the current system, but I can use my license to try to make health care a bit more accessible and comfortable for people in my community.” Landrum also leads Stop the Bleed, making use of her training as a wound specialist. “Violence, especially against certain groups, is a reality. Knowing how to control bleeding can make a real difference for an injured person’s chance of survival,” Landrum said. Even as the harm reduction community faces challenges, there has been some movement toward acceptance. Narcan, for example, was hard to acquire when Landrum first started doing harm reduction in La Plata County a few years ago. “I had to purchase it myself or beg for it from established harm reduction agencies,” Landrum said. But “now with expanded access like the Colorado bulk fund” — a state program that allows bulk naloxone purchases at low or no cost — “it is much easier to get Narcan and put it in the hands of people who benefit from it.” According to Landurm, her efforts still receive the occasional negative comment, and stigma still exists. But she keeps in mind that people are actively working to change that. “A lot of folks — current and former drug users, harm reduction activists, and people who have been directly impacted by overdoses or poisonings — have been working really hard for years to reduce stigma and improve harm reduction access in Colorado,” she said. “So, I’m thankful for those people because, without their efforts, it’s unlikely I would have the freedom and supplies to do this work.” ■ AMY LANDRUM, NURSE PRACTITIONER AND WOUND SPECIALIST WITH DURANGO STREET MEDICS. COURTESY OF DURANGO STREET MEDICS MAGGIE SELDEEN DEMONSTRATES A NARCAN APPLICATOR. COURTESY OF HIGH ROCKIES HARM REDUCTION SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY HARM REDUCTION TABLE, GRAND JUNCTION. COURTESY OF SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY June 2024 DENVER VOICE 9
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