SUMMARY: “The Church of Safe Injection” is something that may seem unconventional to most. However, in Maine, it’s become a real thing. As an organization to prevent opioid deaths and helping users to use safely, The Church of Safe Injection is helping to save the lives of opioid users across the state. Supplying things such as cotton, alcohol wipes, and clean syringes, The Church of Safe Injection provides users with sterile materials in order to minimize the number of deaths caused by opioids, many which can circulate from unsafe practices.
Jesse Harvey, 26, founded The Church of Safe Injection in order to help him meet criteria to create a safe syringe exchange program. The church now has 18 chapters across 8 states and is funded by donations. Each chapter is independently run.
AUDIO ANALYSIS: Ambient noise such as footsteps and faint speech under reporter Deborah Becker helps to fade each portion of the story into the next. This audio also hears not only the founder of the church, but also from people int he community who are actively using its services and making frequent exchanges within the program. This shows various insights of the program alongside the narration provided by Becker in order to create a cohesive story that flows well.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: Although the written article and audio covered the same story, I enjoyed listening to the audio. It felt more real and raw hearing the voices of the people involved rather than reading their words from a screen. As someone with dyslexia, it also makes it easier to comprehend the information given to me when hearing it spoke out loud rather than having to re-read the same paragraphs over and over again. There were also additional quotes in the audio that weren’t included in the article, assuringly because the article only quoted what the writer believed was most important to include, which makes sense. I enjoy articles that include an audio to listen to, almost like a companion, when reading. It helps to fit the pieces together more easily!
Em's Little Haven 