Video: Safer Drug Use & Harm Reduction Services
Using a fentanyl test strip is easy. Providence is using peer-to-peer community outreach to connect high-risk individuals with harm reduction resources including fentanyl test strips, sterile syringes, and naloxone kits.
How can I stay safer?
You can get supplies to use drugs safer
In Rhode Island, there are many places where you can get sterile needles, cookers, and cottons. You can also get naloxone, a medicine that can reverse an overdose, and fentanyl test strips, which you can use to see if your drugs have been mixed with fentanyl. You can buy naloxone and new needles at pharmacies all around Rhode Island. You can also go to a syringe exchange to get these supplies for free.
- Harm Reduction Vending Machines
- Fentanyl Test Strips
- Pharmacies
- Syringe Exchange (ENCORE)
- Project Weber/RENEW
Harm reduction vending machines provide free supplies 24 hours a day, seven days a week to people that want them whenever they are ready for them. To access the supplies in a vending machine please contact AIDS Care Ocean State by calling call 401-401-781-0665 and they will issue you an anonymous pin code to access the machines. Visit our Get Help map and select “Harm Reduction Vending Machines” to find the nearest machine. Currently, you can get three items for free in a week. The vending machines are currently stocked with:
- Safer injection kits
- Naloxone (narcan)
- Fentanyl test strip kits
- Condoms/ safer sex kits
- Wound care kits
- Hygiene kits
- Referral cards
You can stop by ACOS located at 557 Broad Street from 10am to 1 pm Monday through Friday and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm to get free fentanyl test strips.
You can also get in touch with RICARES about acquiring free fentanyl test strips.
If you can’t make it a syringe exchange (a place where you can bring your used needles and get new ones), you can always buy syringes at your local pharmacy. This map will show you pharmacies around the state where you can buy naloxone.
ENCORE is a syringe exchange with a permanent location at 557 Broad Street in Providence, Rhode Island. Please visit their website for more information.
ENCORE offers free syringe delivery. Call 401-781-0665 today for more information.
ENCORE has a mobile team who travel to several areas in Rhode Island , identified by their ENCORE backpacks. In addition to giving you new needles in exchange for your used ones, the street outreach team also gives out safe sex kits, HIV testing information, toiletries, and referrals for additional resources.
Cranston Street, Providence, RI 02909
Hours: Monday: 4:30-6:30
Pawtucket RI 02909
Hours: Wednesday: 4:30-6:30pm
Central Falls RI 02909
Hours: Wednesday: 4:30-6:30pm
Praire Ave, Providence, RI 02909
Hours: Thursday: 10:00am-1:00pm
7 Girard Ave Newport, RI 02840
Hours: Friday 1:30pm-3:30pm
421 Broadway Newport, RI 02840
Hours: Friday 1:30pm-3:30pm
Hartford Ave, Providence, RI
Hours: Saturday: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Project Weber offers syringe exchange at their main drop-in center and has a street outreach team that can exchange syringes and gives out fentanyl test strips, naloxone, condoms, and other supplies. They also have recovery coaching and can link you with a treatment program in you are feeling ready for one. Project Weber also offer HIV and hepatitis C testing. You can find out more information about Project Weber here.
Project Weber/RENEW Providence Drop-in Center
Location: 640 Broad St. Providence, RI 02907
Phone: 401-383-4888
Hours: Monday-Wednesday, Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Project Weber/RENEW Pawtucket Drop-in Center
Location: 124 Broad St. Pawtucket 02860
Phone: Phone: 401-867-2662
Hours: Monday-Wednesday, Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Downtown Mobile Outreach, Kennedy Plaza
Location: Located in downtown Providence, on the side of Kennedy Plaza near the “Superman Building” (Industrial Trust Bank).
Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
You can get tested
Getting tested for HIV and hepatitis C status is free and is the best way to get linked to treatment. HIV and hepatitis C can be spread if you share needles or other works. HIV can be treated, and hepatitis C is curable! These are locations where you can get tested and also get linked to treatment. Click on these tabs to find a testing location that is best for you.
- ACOS Prevention Center
- AIDS Project RI
- The Rhode Island STD Clinic at Miriam Hospital
- Project Weber/RENEW
- Sojourner House
Location: 557 Broad Street, Providence, RI 02906
Phone Number: 401-781-0665
Hours: By Appointment
Service provided: Testing
Location: 55 Hope Street, Providence, RI 02906
Phone Number: 401-821-5522
Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 3:00pm-5:00pm by appointment, Wednesday 5:00pm-7:00pm walk-ins
Service provided: HIV and Hepatitis C testing, at-home HIV testing
Website: https://aidsprojectri.org/get-tested/
Location: 180 Corliss St., Suite F, Providence, RI 02904
Phone Number: 401-793-4715
Hours: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 12:30pm-3:30pm
Service provided: HIV and other STI testing
Not only does Project Weber/RENEW offer syringe exchange, they also have HIV and hepatitis C testing at all three of their locations!
Project Weber/RENEW Providence Drop-in Center
Location: 640 Broad St. Providence, RI 02907
Phone: 401-383-4888
Hours: Monday-Wednesday, Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Project Weber/RENEW Pawtucket Drop-in Center
Location: 124 Broad St. Pawtucket 02860
Phone: Phone: 401-867-2662
Hours: Monday-Wednesday, Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Downtown Mobile Outreach, Kennedy Plaza
Location: Located in downtown Providence, on the side of Kennedy Plaza near the “Superman Building” (Industrial Trust Bank).
Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Location: 386 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908
Phone Number: 401-861-6191 ext. 115
Hours: Monday through Friday 9:00am-5:00pm
Service provided: HIV testing
You can get access to health care
Everyone deserves access to health care. There are clinics around Rhode Island that are welcoming to everyone regardless of your insurance status. These clinics will not only treat you, but they can link you to other services and even help you get insurance. These clinics will be able to treat your wounds and abscesses and will also help you with other healthcare needs you may have.
Clinica Esperanza, or the Hope Clinic, treats people of all insurance statuses. They also have doctors and nurses trained to provide medical care in Spanish.
Location: 60 Valley St. Suite 104, Providence, RI 02909
Hours: Monday-Friday: 12:00pm-6:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am-12:00pm
Visit their website
There are 13 different Providence Community Health Centers throughout the city. These health centers provide high quality health care to people regardless of their ability to pay.
Phone: 401-444-0400
Visit their website to find a health center near you.
Thundermist Health Center serves northern, central and southern Rhode Island with clinics in Woonsocket, West Warwick, and South County. They have 10 clinics throughout these areas that cover different health care needs. They accept patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Woonsocket location: 450 Clinton Street, Woonsocket, RI 02895
Phone Number: 401-767-4100
West Warwick location: The Cotton Shed, 186 Providence Street, West Warwick, RI 02893
Phone number: 401-615-2800
South County location: 1 River Street, Wakefield, RI 02879
Phone number: 401-783-0523
You can get access to wound care
It is important to get your wounds checked out because they can lead to further complications. If you have wounds that won’t heal on their own or are getting worse, you might need to go to a hospital. These are places where you can get advanced care. Check out the hospital programs we have listed below that specialize in wound care.
- Rhode Island Hospital Center for Wound Care
- Comprehensive Wound Healing Center at Fatima Hospital
- Kent Hospital Wound Recovery Center
- Landmark Wound Care Center
- South County Health Wound Care Center
The Rhode Island Hospital Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine is dedicated to healing chronic wounds as quickly and painlessly as possible. They have doctors and nurses trained in wound care that can help you.
Location: 950 Warren Ave Suite 103, East Providence, RI 02914
Hours: Monday-Friday: 8:30am-4:30pm
Phone: 401-606-HEAL
Location: 20 Powel Ave, Newport, RI 02840
Hours: Monday-Friday: 7:00am-6:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am-12:00pm
Phone: 401-444-0400
The Comprehensive Wound Healing Center at Fatima Hospital brings together recognized medical experts utilizing the latest treatments to care for your wounds.
Location: Fatima Hospital, 200 High Service Avenue
Phone: 401-456-3011
If you or a loved one has a wound that is of concern or is not healing properly, we encourage you to visit the wound center for an evaluation.
Location: 15 Health Lane, Building 2-D, Warwick, RI, 02886
Hours: Monday-Friday: 8:30am-4:30pm
Phone: 401-736-4646
For patients suffering from a chronic or non-healing wound, The Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine at Landmark Medical Center offers relief through a comprehensive, leading-edge approach to wound management.
Location: 166 Cass Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895
Phone: 401-768-6017
At the South County Health Wound Care Center, we not only offer state-of-the-art therapies and highly advanced treatments for non-healing wounds
Location: 70 Kenyon Ave, Wakefield, RI
Phone: 401-788-1638
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