\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSteps of Hope Iowa has placed 60 boxes across 25 Iowa counties within the last three years \u2014 all of them continuously stocked with naloxone nasal spray known as Narcan. Naloxone is the medicine used to reverse an opioid overdose. The nonprofit\u2019s founder says being asked to remove one recently was a first for her. No matter the number of boxes, Steps of Hope Iowa founder Ann Breeding always remembers how she feels when each one is placed.\u201cI was super excited. I was super, super excited,\u201d said Breeding. The box placed in November at the Casey\u2019s near the Northeast 14th Street and Broadway Avenue intersection has provided a lot. \u201cIt was 136 doses that have gone out in two months, which does speak to the urgency and the need,\u201d said Breeding. \u201cThe Polk County Sheriff was the one that suggested the area for the box.\u201d That box is no longer there. Breeding says she was asked to remove it toward the end of January, a few months after she says she worked with someone at Casey\u2019s about putting the box there. \u201cWhat I was told was that it was a safety concern for employees, which the box was actually placed on the very far back side of the building, so I didn’t see how it would interfere with an employee at all,\u201d said Breeding. \u201cBut then, at the same time, it doesn’t cause any risk. What it does is it prevents risk, and it saves lives.\u201d KCCI reached out to Casey\u2019s. A spokesperson shared the following statement: \u201cWhen we became aware of the unit, we explained to the organization that it needed to be removed because we do not allow materials or equipment to be placed on our property without approval, and it does not align with our policies on solicitation and distribution. At Casey\u2019s, we are part of the community, and we have clear giving areas that guide us on how we support and give back. We also take the safety of our team members seriously and they are trained to handle medical emergencies by calling 911.\u201d\u201cI don\u2019t shame them. I do not,\u201d said Breeding. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I\u2019m about. I\u2019m about saving lives.\u201d Breeding wants to reduce the stigma surrounding Narcan use, a stigma that stems from the belief that having access to Narcan promotes substance abuse. \u201cIt will save their life and it only enables breathing,\u201d said Breeding. \u201cThat\u2019s why you call 911, because this will wear off, and you don\u2019t want them to go back into that overdose status.\u201d Breeding is now looking for another space to put the box in the same area. Working with businesses, communities, members of law enforcement and others is a continuous part of her work to make sure no family has to go through what hers did when she lost her son. \u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. It\u2019s just helping people, loving people and letting them know that every life is worth saving,\u201d said Breeding.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tDES MOINES, Iowa \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Steps of Hope Iowa has placed 60 boxes across 25 Iowa counties within the last three years \u2014 all of them continuously stocked with naloxone nasal spray known as Narcan. Naloxone is the medicine used to reverse an opioid overdose. The nonprofit\u2019s founder says being asked to remove one recently was a first for her. <\/p>\n
No matter the number of boxes, Steps of Hope Iowa founder Ann Breeding always remembers how she feels when each one is placed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was super excited. I was super, super excited,\u201d said Breeding. <\/p>\n
The box placed in November at the Casey\u2019s near the Northeast 14th Street and Broadway Avenue intersection has provided a lot. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was 136 doses that have gone out in two months, which does speak to the urgency and the need,\u201d said Breeding. \u201cThe Polk County Sheriff was the one that suggested the area for the box.\u201d <\/p>\n
That box is no longer there. <\/p>\n
Breeding says she was asked to remove it toward the end of January, a few months after she says she worked with someone at Casey\u2019s about putting the box there. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I was told was that it was a safety concern for employees, which the box was actually placed on the very far back side of the building, so I didn’t see how it would interfere with an employee at all,\u201d said Breeding. \u201cBut then, at the same time, it doesn’t cause any risk. What it does is it prevents risk, and it saves lives.\u201d <\/p>\n
KCCI reached out to Casey\u2019s. A spokesperson shared the following statement: <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we became aware of the unit, we explained to the organization that it needed to be removed because we do not allow materials or equipment to be placed on our property without approval, and it does not align with our policies on solicitation and distribution. At Casey\u2019s, we are part of the community, and we have clear giving areas that guide us on how we support and give back. We also take the safety of our team members seriously and they are trained to handle medical emergencies by calling 911.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t shame them. I do not,\u201d said Breeding. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I\u2019m about. I\u2019m about saving lives.\u201d <\/p>\n
Breeding wants to reduce the stigma surrounding Narcan use, a stigma that stems from the belief that having access to Narcan promotes substance abuse. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt will save their life and it only enables breathing,\u201d said Breeding. \u201cThat\u2019s why you call 911, because this will wear off, and you don\u2019t want them to go back into that overdose status.\u201d <\/p>\n
Breeding is now looking for another space to put the box in the same area. Working with businesses, communities, members of law enforcement and others is a continuous part of her work to make sure no family has to go through what hers did when she lost her son. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. It\u2019s just helping people, loving people and letting them know that every life is worth saving,\u201d said Breeding. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steps of Hope Iowa has placed 60 boxes across 25 Iowa counties within the last three years \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[157705,12635,18296,18532,157706,62489,157707,1259,71965,311,134,1088,144257,18032,424,524,4486,157711,83866,157713,111,139,26328,157708,69,26274,5202,157709,157710,52524,12429,157712],"class_list":{"0":"post-282188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-ann-breeding","9":"tag-area","10":"tag-box","11":"tag-breeding","12":"tag-broadway-avenue","13":"tag-casey","14":"tag-caseys","15":"tag-community","16":"tag-des-moines","17":"tag-founder","18":"tag-health","19":"tag-iowa","20":"tag-kcci","21":"tag-law-enforcement","22":"tag-life","23":"tag-medication","24":"tag-month","25":"tag-naloxone","26":"tag-narcan","27":"tag-narcan-box","28":"tag-new-zealand","29":"tag-newzealand","30":"tag-nonprofit","31":"tag-northeast-14th-street","32":"tag-nz","33":"tag-opioid","34":"tag-part","35":"tag-polk-county-sheriff","36":"tag-steps-of-hope-iowa","37":"tag-stigma","38":"tag-substance-use-disorder","39":"tag-team-member"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}