ONTARIO
Approaching its first year in the community this month, the Malheur County Health Departmentâs Walk-Thru Wednesday program is going strong. An essential service that was launched just after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, Walk-Thru Wednesday is a PRIME Peer program aimed at providing peer-based harm reduction support for people who use drugs.
âThe purpose of Walk-Thru Wednesday is to meet people where theyâre at,â said Hannah Roy, certified recovery mentor for the health department.
Every Wednesday from noon to 3 p.m., Roy and other peers set up at Mallard Grocery in Ontario to offer resources, such as safer-use supplies and syringes, hygiene and wound care kits, safe sex supplies, educational materials, information about hepatitis and HIV testing and links to treatment when needed, and referral to other support programs, including Oregon Health Plan application assistance, WIC, family planning and home visiting.