MAKEBRA M. ANDERSON NNPA - A large, cream-colored, 1992 Winnebago Adventurer is parked at Minnesota Avenue and Division Street, N.E., straddling one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation's capital. The run-down liquor store is the main attraction for the 20 men standing outside. The 10 nearby buildings are dilapidated and soda bottles clutter the street, making it difficult to walk a straight path. Most passer-bys don't seem to recognize the vehicle, but a significant number do.
Those in the know have come to expect the Winnebago to lumber to the same spot every Wednesday around 2:30 P.M. That's when they can exchange what they call "works" and the uninitiated refer to as syringes and needles. "How do you want that?" a lanky worker asks while patiently waiting for the short, brown-skinned man to count his used needles. "Forty diabetics, five blue heads, and a crack pack," the man replies.
The worker fills the bag with the order by quickly grabbing 45 needles. Diabetics are small needles for those that still have good veins. Blue heads are larger, used by those who have been shooting heroin so long it's hard to see their veins. A brown paper bag is used to conceal its contents from probing eyes. As extras, the worker throws in some alcohol pads, ointment, lubricant and a 12-pack of condoms. "Thank you. We'll see you on Wednesday," the worker says, looking outside as a line forms. The man leaves the van smiling, exposing his missing teeth. "Thank you boss," he says before exiting. More than 15 addicts are waiting to exchange their dirty syringes for clean ones. Needles are part of the tools they need to get their next high. And even in their addicted state, they know that clean needles are better for them than dirty ones.
For five years, Ron Daniels has been driving around D.C. in the Prevention Works Winnebago. He is the program manager for the only needle exchange program in the area. About 95 percent of his clients are African-Americans. "I'm a former addict, so I know how it feels to be addicted," Daniels says while entering the next clients' data into a small, black laptop computer. "I know how it feels to want to change and can't. I know how it feels to be hungry and homeless; I know how it feels not to have a voice, not to be heard." . . .
Prevention Works was started in D.C. in 1996 as part of a far-reaching HIV-prevention program designed to serve as a bridge between drug addiction and drug treatment. By 2003, Prevention Works had served more than 5,500 people and had made more than 1,200 referrals to drug treatment and detox centers. Area treatment centers service more than 35,000 people a year. "Unlike most programs, we go to the people. We don't sit and wait for them to come to us," Daniels says, pausing to make sure that the client has counted her 130 used needles. . .
The CDC says the average cost to run a needle exchange program for more than 1,000 people is $169,000. By contrast, it takes $195,188 to provide lifetime treatment of HIV/AIDS for one person. Barahona, of Prevention Works, says needles are an important instrument in the fight against HIV/AIDS. "The needles are the tools of engagement," she explains. "With that tool, we are able to get people information. It starts there, but it doesn't end there."
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