Used store. clinic. meeting place. The center becomes a place to live in the midst of a housing and drug crisis

Aneri Pattani

New Orleans, Louisiana. — From the outside, the location of the former Family Dollar store in the Ninth Ward looks intimidating. It’s covered in graffiti and there are aluminum cans and trash in the parking lot. Located on a street with vacant lots and destroyed buildings: Symbols of destruction He confirms that this neighborhood, which is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city, has been suffering since Hurricane Katrina.

But inside, the place is a cozy oasis. Hanging lights decorate the racks of donated clothing. There are shelves and boxes filled with children’s books, allergy medicine, and personal hygiene supplies. There is a room separated by curtains with a stage for musicians and a neon sign with skates, for the free skate nights organized every week.

The space is a free thrift store, an over-the-counter pharmacy, a punk concert venue, and it’s all a “radical community center,” explained Dan Bengler, who runs the place.

Bingler works as a bartender and bartender in the city, and he founded a mutual aid organization called Greater New Orleans Care Group. He said the building owners allow him to use the space as long as he pays for water, electricity and garbage collection.

Monday afternoon, volunteers from other community organizations show up — some of whom used to set up shop in the parking lot before Pingler opened the store. They provide free STD testing, basic medical care, hot meals, sterile syringes and other supplies to people who use drugs.

The purpose of the site is simple: “We’re going to make sure we support the community,” Bengler said.

Although it has been in operation for several years, this space has become more important in recent months, with the Trump administration cutting funding to many social service organizations and taking an aggressive stance on homelessness and drug use.

In Washington, D.C., his administration did just that Destroyed camps From stores to force those living on the streets to do so Leaving the city. At the national level, she called Forcing people Who are using drugs to start treatment. He refused Harm reduction – Strategies that public health experts say protect people who use drugs and save lives, but critics say encourage the use of illicit substances.

Community space in New Orleans – called the Fred Hampton Free Shop, in honor of Famous Black Panther activistknown for uniting diverse groups to fight for social reforms – seeks to be a refuge from all these changes.

Bengler said he receives no federal money, state or local grants, or foundation money. “They are simply neighbors helping neighbors,” he said, his voice cracking, adding, “It’s really nice to be able to share this space.”

All items on the site come from people or organizations in the community. On one occasion, a local hotel that was undergoing renovations donated 50 flat-screen televisions, Bengler said.

He added that on nights when the store is open, more than 100 people usually come.

On a fall night, dozens of people searched for free clothes and over-the-counter medications. Others were sitting in the grass, talking while watching their bikes or shopping carts filled with belongings.

James Beshears stopped at a harm control group in the parking lot to receive the sterile supplies he uses to inject heroin and fentanyl. He said he had been receiving treatment for years, but relapsed when his doctor moved and was referred to a clinic that charged $250 a day. He said street drugs are cheaper than treatment.

You want to stop using. But until you find affordable health care, places like this free shop will keep you going. Without her, he said, he would already have “one foot in the grave.”

Another man was in the parking lot waiting for the arrival of Aquil Bey, a medic and former Army Special Forces member known for helping people overcome obstacles to getting medical care. As soon as he saw Bai’s black truck, he ran to find him.

“I have stage 4 kidney disease,” he told her, adding that he had appointments at the hospital, but was having trouble getting there.

“Do me a favor,” Bai replied as he unloaded folding tables and medical equipment from his car. “When our team arrives, come see us. Maybe we can get you a ride.”

Pai is the founder Self-contained communitiesa volunteer-run organization that provides free basic health care and referrals to homeless people who use drugs or from other vulnerable communities. The group has a constant presence in the free store.

That day, Bai and his team connected the man who needed treatment for his kidney disease to low-cost transportation programs. They also checked blood pressure and blood sugar, treated infected wounds, and called clinics to schedule appointments for patients who did not have phones.

A man with a leg injury reported that he was sleeping on the concrete floor of an abandoned naval base. Bay noticed a mattress in the furniture section of the store. He and another volunteer carried him, tied him to the roof of the car, and took him to where the man was sleeping.

“We’re trying to identify all these barriers” people face and “find ways to solve them,” Pai said.

The free clinic at the store helped Steven Wiltz connect with treatment for his addiction. Born and raised in the Lower Ninth Ward, he had been using drugs since he was 10 years old.

Tired of discrimination from doctors who blamed him for his addiction, Wiltz said he avoided going to any treatment centers. But after years of getting to know the free store volunteers, he trusted them to guide him.

He was 56 years old and in sustained recovery for the first time in his life, he said in a phone interview in the fall.

He said that these volunteers “take care of people who have no one to take care of them.”

As the sun set that night in the store, the punk band began preparing for their performance on the other side of the room, where the medical clinic was. The lights dimmed and music began playing loudly, a reminder that this was not a traditional clinic or community center.

Bai was still taking care of the gout patient.

“I got used to the sound,” he said of the fast drum beats and power chords. “Sometimes I like it.”

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