[0:12] Minneapolis,

[0:25] opioid awareness. Um,

[0:32] Tony,

[0:36] Minneapolis Health Department.

[0:50] Tony, welcome.

[0:51] Thank you.

[0:52] Um, can you introduce yourself?

[0:54] Sure. My name is Tony Zakardi.

[0:56] I'm a public health specialist with the

[0:58] city.

[1:19] So sorryan

[1:29] somebody in long-term recovery. I'm

[1:32] really proud of your recovery

[1:33] experience. Um can you tell us what

[1:35] recovery means to you?

[1:36] Sure. Recovery to me means uh second

[1:40] chance at life.

[1:44] How to live a human being growth.

[2:06] Alhamdulillah.

[2:08] City of Minneapolis.

[2:28] opioid

[2:30] question number one. Uh the opioid

[2:32] response team is committed to working

[2:34] with uh community partners to address

[2:36] the opioid crisis in Minneapolis.

[2:40] uh this with a focus on youth from the

[2:42] East African, African-American and

[2:44] native communities, populations.

[2:48] Um and there has been um a lot of work

[2:53] um in terms of um asanolin

[2:57] campaigns. Can you tell us a little bit

[2:59] about the campaign?

[3:00] Sure. Uh in late 2024

[3:04] youth opioid awareness,

[3:06] we didn't focus on

[3:09] social media uh and peer

[3:14] conversations. We wanted to talk to each

[3:16] other.

[3:24] We've also launched our vending

[3:26] machines.

[3:32] Um so there's a lot of different parts

[3:35] coming together to address

[3:41] Um

[3:47] two, why is the city of Minneapolis

[3:49] doing this campaign?

[3:51] Uh yeah, the uh opioid use is isn't a

[3:54] crisis in our community.

[3:57] You know, we feel one death too many.

[4:00] We had a 15% increase in opioid death

[4:02] 2022 to 2023,

[4:05] the largest number being in the blacks.

[4:07] American community.

[4:11] We've seen significant in the Native

[4:13] Americans.

[4:17] So, you know, we we've uh

[4:25] recovery. Her uncle is dying

[4:29] and we just we just needed to

[4:34] recover.

[4:40] The opioid use impacts families, you

[4:43] know, friends and other

[4:46] we can do it.

[4:51] Sorry.

[5:02] community.

[5:34] Minneapolis campign

[5:41] solution.

[5:44] Um Tony

[5:51] um some ways the city is working to

[5:54] prevent opio use in our community.

[6:02] Some of the ways

[6:05] opioid epidemic.

[6:07] Sure. Um, you know, we provide funding

[6:09] to community groups uh that work

[6:12] throughout the city directly with those

[6:14] in addictions. That money goes to peer

[6:16] recovery service, housing,

[6:20] treatment, life-saving medications, and

[6:22] more

[6:25] medical unit like I mentioned. On that,

[6:28] we're going to write basic health

[6:29] screenings.

[6:31] wound care, medication consultations,

[6:36] vaccinations, mental health

[6:39] potentially

[6:41] youth health especially underserved

[6:44] communities

[6:46] physical exams maybe dental care

[6:51] used to

[6:54] and while it doesn't prevent you

[6:57] in north and south Indianapolis

[7:01] which is a something we want everyone to

[7:03] have can help save lives.

[7:06] That's one big thing.

[7:09] Also,

[7:12] we've got different campaign literature,

[7:15] multiple languages, small,

[7:20] Spanish,

[7:23] and so on so forth. Try and reach

[7:25] communities all over the neighbor, all

[7:27] over the city. I'm also doing a lot of

[7:29] work with Elliot Park right now. There's

[7:32] a big kind of a big name. I'm seeing a

[7:34] lot of Somali use over there too.

[7:43] Yes, absolutely. Um, thank you.

[8:00] community members, organizations who are

[8:03] representing the East African community

[8:06] and they are funding them.

[8:28] City of community

[8:32] because

[8:36] opioid awareness campaign

[8:40] Minneapolis the city of Minneapolis.

[8:44] Um so thank you. I was just irritating

[8:46] to them the fact that the city of

[8:48] Minneapolis is in fact putting a lot of

[8:50] resources into the East African

[8:51] community when it comes to opioid

[8:53] epidemic. Um so

[9:04] how might people find themselves using

[9:06] opioids and how can they avoid it um

[9:09] from a prevention aspect? Well, I think

[9:11] uh it's important to know that um you

[9:14] know, unless prescribed by a doctor, no

[9:16] pill is

[9:20] we're finding

[9:21] people see counterfeit pills that look

[9:23] like

[9:31] we are uh we're seeing

[9:40] And

[9:42] we need people to stop um and just be

[9:45] aware of of everything you put in your

[9:47] body. You know, unless it comes from a

[9:49] doctor, you're not 100%.

[9:59] No, that's No, these are all good.

[10:20] awareness outachio.

[10:46] Because

[10:52] secrets keep us sick. So we need

[10:55] community.

[11:06] Um what are some of the signs that

[11:09] people should be on the lookout for?

[11:17] Yeah, definitely. I mean if you see

[11:19] people falling asleep or not when they

[11:21] shouldn't be um a change in friend or

[11:24] peer group loss of income asking for

[11:28] money

[11:29] a shift in priorities

[11:32] mood changes in irritability

[11:36] for people making excuses

[11:40] decision

[11:42] making

[11:47] a change Sleep habits, keeping secrets

[11:50] like you said,

[12:04] medication or prescription.

[12:22] red flag

[12:27] prescription um you know when somebody

[12:30] is like prescription shopping you know

[12:33] or far you know they they go to all the

[12:35] differentarmacies and that's another

[12:39] um

[12:44] Um

[12:56] 24 hours.

[13:05] Um,

[13:06] can you tell us

[13:13] resources? What are some of the

[13:14] resources available to people and

[13:16] families?

[13:17] Sure. And we have we have plenty of

[13:18] resources for all forage.

[13:25] Uh, we do.gov

[13:31] resources.

[13:34] If we're struggling, you know, we know

[13:35] it's hard to talk about

[13:40] [Music]

[13:41] spiritual guide.

[13:43] Anyone you can trust that you can be

[13:44] open to is important.

[13:48] We also have on the north side, we've

[13:50] got station 14

[13:53] and we're developing one here pretty

[13:55] soon. Um, you can walk in and get

[13:57] recovery services right on the spot that

[13:59] you can get into treatment even if you

[14:00] don't have the money.

[14:03] Um, we also are offering a new and this

[14:06] is

[14:08] we have new.

[14:11] So if you want treatment for fentanyl,

[14:13] you can walk in Riverside or Knack. You

[14:16] just tell them you want help and the

[14:18] city provides the medication and they'll

[14:21] get you on on a long ass shot like a

[14:23] supplicate um to get people in recovery

[14:26] right away which is a big help.

[14:31] But uh just talking about anyone talking

[14:33] about it with anybody is you know is

[14:36] really the key.

[14:38] If you want help it's there.

[14:42] Yeah.

[14:46] um

[14:49] um all this information, how can people

[14:52] get involved?

[14:53] Sure. Well, I think being present in

[14:55] your community,

[14:57] having regular conversations with your

[14:59] children, area youth,

[15:03] and have compassion when talking,

[15:07] people are in active addiction know that

[15:09] they're in active.

[15:11] Um and so you know keeping a keen eye

[15:14] and just being compassionate talking to

[15:16] people

[15:18] need help

[15:48] Because

[16:01] because

[16:03] the person knows that they're in

[16:04] addiction. The person knows

[16:10] this kid.

[16:21] We care about you.

[16:31] Um, is there anything else you'd like to

[16:33] mention?

[16:38] Uh, absolutely. Um, I think it's

[16:40] important to know as somebody in

[16:43] recovering from active addiction myself,

[16:46] um, I know there's a lot of shame in

[16:48] addiction. Um, but getting that stigma

[16:50] out of it and just trying to find a way

[16:53] to help that person without judgment

[16:56] with compassion when you can, and

[16:57] knowing that, you know, these people on

[16:59] the streets, that's somebody's baby. You

[17:02] know, that's somebody's brother or

[17:03] mother or sister.

[17:06] So knowing that there's a human being in

[17:07] there that needs help and pride in

[17:11] everyone else's side to reach out for

[17:14] help because it's there and we're here

[17:17] there's a lot of people that care

[17:20] to be a part of that.

[17:24] Thank you. Um, and I want to just

[17:26] mention, um, earlier we were talking

[17:28] about, um, you being, you know, in in

[17:31] the community in Cedar Riverside and you

[17:33] working out there for many, many years.

[17:36] Can you tell us a little bit of what you

[17:37] saw in that space?

[17:40] Sure. Um, you know, I used to own

[17:41] Palmer's Bar on 500 seat.

[17:46] Um,

[17:49] a lot of youth on the streets at all,

[17:53] fighting with each other, killing

[17:55] people,

[17:57] you know, asking for cigarettes,

[18:00] people being dragged into the towers,

[18:02] beat up and

[18:04] saw, a lot of theft and broken windows,

[18:08] a lot of garbage on the streets,

[18:10] had a lot of, but I also saw I saw a lot

[18:13] of, a lot of beauty. So, you know, I

[18:17] know what's there and I know that

[18:18] community

[18:21] um I know there's a lot of love in

[18:23] Somalia and San Francisco in the smile

[18:26] in the towers up and down.

[18:30] So I saw well I saw a lot of bad I saw a

[18:34] lot of hope and um that's what I chose

[18:36] to that's why I chose to invest in Cedar

[18:39] Riverside.

[18:40] Um you know it's one of those you know

[18:44] let's work together to

[18:46] help each other and

[18:49] so I think um it's a neighborhood that

[18:52] needs a lot of help

[18:54] and support

[18:56] and I'm here to help any way I can.

[19:00] Well, um, thank you and I'm super

[19:02] grateful. Um, you're a huge asset to the

[19:04] city and I'm glad that you're part of

[19:06] the city.

[19:25] alaykum.