Community Engagement Team
The Community Engagement program aims to reduce the barriers people who use drugs often face trying to access services. The program does this by collaborating with community-based organizations and other city agencies and through community interviews and qualitative data collection. There remain large pockets of the city where individuals who use drugs have few pathways into care. The Community Engagement team works with people in these neighborhoods to gather information on what barriers to care they face and how the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction can help them eliminate those barriers. Collaborators with SUPHR’s Community Engagement program also help to expedite entry into treatment facilities and provide case management for Philadelphians returning from incarceration who are at elevated risk of overdose.
In 2021, the highest unintentional overdose fatalities in the City were amongst Black Philadelphians. Fatalities were also concentrated in North Philadelphia zip codes with primarily Black residents: 19132, 19133, 19140, 19141 and 19140. The Community Engagement Program aims to reach these neighborhoods to collect information and provide resources to people who use drugs in culturally relevant and appropriate ways.
Earlier this year, the program’s first Community Assessment and Engagement Specialist, Dominique McQuade, began an outreach engagement strategy in the North Philadelphia community. She has built trusted relationships by becoming a consistent source of support, harm reduction supplies, and substance use information. Her presence in the community allows SUPHR to expand programming to specifically include populations at the highest risk.
A day at work with Community Engagement
Un dia de trabajo con equipo de compromise con la comunidad de SUPHR
Other Collaborations
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AR-2 launched as a pilot program in April 2019 after receiving federal grants from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The unit, composed of a paramedic and case manager, works in Kensington and responds to nonfatal overdoses when an individual refuses transport to an emergency department. They also accept “walk-ins” and community referrals. The team connects people to treatment on demand and provides a warm handoff to treatment facilities. They also distribute the medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, naloxone, citywide.
Read more about the AR-2 program.
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LEAP (Linkage and Engagement After Prison) is a partnership with Action Wellness. For the past 30 years, Action Wellness has been working with individuals incarcerated in Philadelphia jails. In 2020, SUPHR funded Action Wellness to provide case management for those at high risk of overdose upon release from incarceration.
LEAP is a voluntary program for anyone inducted on suboxone, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, in the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. Case managers visit their clients behind the walls and continue providing services for 3-6 months post-incarceration. Upon release, each client is assigned a care outreach specialist who accompanies them on medical appointments, shopping trips, court dates, and other errands as needed. Abstention from substance use is not a pre-requisite for participation in the LEAP program.
Meet the team
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Elvis Rosado
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, but raised in El Barrio North Philadelphia, Elvis (he/him) is currently the SUPHR Harm Reduction and Health Educator. With 30 years in recovery, as of February 1st, 2022, he has been providing opioid education & overdose reversal trainings for the last 12 years. Elvis spent 25 years with Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) in a multitude of roles, including 9 years as a volunteer and 15 years as an employee providing harm reduction and outreach services to engage and educate sex workers and other people with substance use disorders.
Prior to his position at PPP, Elvis worked as an addiction therapist at Girard Medical Center and Parkside Recovery’s methadone clinics, and as an adolescent counselor at Public Health Management Corporation’s (PHMC) The Bridge. Elvis’s previous work was largely centered around HIV. At the height of the HIV epidemic, he worked as an HIV test phlebotomist and rapid swab tester at Drexel’s W.A.T.S. (Women’s Anonymous Test Site) program and at PCHA’s Mazzoni Clinic.
Elvis has been deeply involved in the Latino community. He is an alumnus of the Latino Partnership Leadership Institute, where individuals are provided with tools to access community needs and develop solutions to address them. He is also involved in the Latino Teach program, coordinated by PPP and Philadelphia Fight. Teaching night classes to individuals that speak limited English and are HIV Positive, Elvis covers a variety of topics including HIV 101, STI prevention and treatment, Hepatitis A, B, and C transmission and treatment, and interactions between HIV medications and street drugs. Elvis cultivated these education skills during his work as a prevention specialist in the Philadelphia School System, where he taught concepts like violence prevention, teen dating violence, job interview etiquette, and drug and alcohol use prevention.
In all, he has spent the larger portion of his life (about 30 years) working with the community to help individuals make safer life choices.
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Dominique McQuade
COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT & ENGAGEMENT LEAD
Dominique (she/her) is the SUPHR Community Assessment and Engagement Specialist. She began her role with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) in March of 2022, but has been working to provide harm reduction resources and education to low-income Black and brown communities since she moved to Philadelphia in early 2020. In addition, Dominique’s role now includes qualitative research and assessment. She works very hard to foster community relationships and create opportunities within populations most afflicted by the increasing overdose crisis.
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Wendy Brown
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST
Wendy Brown is a dedicated Community Engagement Street Team Lead with the PDPH SUPHR Division. With over a year of experience in this role, Wendy's passion for helping individuals struggling with substance use disorder is deeply rooted in her personal experiences with others with SUD. Her previous employment at ShopRite for 17 years has honed her ability to work compassionately and empathetically with people from all walks of life.
Today, Wendy plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the community, leveraging her understanding and experience to make a positive impact on the lives of those in need.
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Darryl Stanton
STREET TEAM SPECIALIST
Darryl Staton is a new member of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health's SUPHR Division. Prior to joining the department, Darryl has held various roles including licensed massage therapist, forklift operator, and hospital security guard. He is also passionate about community service and has volunteered his time to feed the unhoused and mentor RCT school students.
Darryl is committed to improving public health outcomes and making a positive impact on the community.