Board of Aldermen — 2/20/18 Page 3
After all, the arts are a significant part of the country’s economy, constituting 4.2 percent of the US gross
national product — more than tourism or agriculture. Nashua needs to take greater advantage of the
economic benefits we can enjoy from an expanded arts scene. Nashua is fortunate to have one-of-a-
kind arts organizations and music venues. Positive Street Art and the International Sculpture
Symposium have brought new beauty to many corners of Nashua. The Riverwalk Café brings premier
musicians to Nashua in a cutting-edge downtown venue. | was proud that the City of Nashua won the
State Arts Commission’s Creative Community Award for being a hub of the arts in New Hampshire.
Attacking the Opioid Crisis
Two years ago we were facing the worsening national opioid crisis. Firefighters and EMTs were
responding to 911 overdose calls, and treatment professionals were working to get and keep people in
recovery. But we had no coordinated citywide strategy to attack this public health crisis. Now we have
taken action and developed a coordinated community response to the epidemic, and we are constantly
working to improve our plan of action.
In November, 2016 we started Nashua’s Safe Stations program to which over 1,400 people have
responded — people seeking to turn hopelessness into recovery. Thank you to NFR and our firefighters,
AMR, Harbor Homes, our hospitals and Public Health who have joined together to make this program
work. The number of 911 emergency overdose calls is down 24%. We still have tragic overdose
fatalities; one death is too many. But we are not seeing rising numbers of fatalities as there have been in
some parts of the country stricken by opioids.
Our Safe Stations program is one that is being used as a prototype elsewhere. The Mayor of Providence
cited Nashua’s successful Safe Stations program as the model for the similar program they launched this
year. The Nashua Police Department is getting drug dealers off our streets. The Police Department is
making almost 800 drug arrests per year, and Nashua has gained a reputation of being a place where it
is hard to sell heroin or fentanyl.
In early 2016, | launched the multi-disciplinary Mayor’s Opioid Task Force, which is working with Jan
Valuk and the Nashua Prevention Coalition to strengthen prevention efforts with our young people, and
with Greater Nashua Mental Health and others to expand treatment options. Just last month, we started
a pilot program of peer-to-peer recovery coaching with Jessica Parnell and Revive, a new recovery
center that opened last summer at 263 Main Street. Peer-to-peer coaching improves success rates for
people who are in recovery but still in the grips of the serious brain disease of addiction, which lasts long
after sobriety is achieved.
But we cannot be complacent. Harbor Homes is providing medical detox and treatment options,
including medication-assisted treatment, for those reporting to Safe Stations. These Safe Stations-
related treatment programs cost a lot of money and are currently causing Harbor Homes to suffer a
deficit of $400,000. Dave Mara, the state’s Drug Czar, attended our Safe Station’s breakfast last week
and understands the importance continuing the Sate Stations program. More support from the State of
New Hampshire and from Medicaid would be a huge help.
