Will County Health Department Adds Naloxone Distribution Box At Veterans Assistance Commission In Joliet

The Will County Health Department continues its efforts to make access to the life-saving, overdose-reversing drug Naloxone (Narcan) easier with the addition of a red Naloxone distribution box at the Veterans Assistance Commission of Will County located at 2400 Glenwood Ave. (Suite 110) in Joliet.

Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose and is available through the Illinois Department of Human Services/Substance Use Prevention & Recovery Access Narcan program free of charge to all individuals in Will County. Naloxone binds to opioid receptors in the brain and can reverse and block the effects of opioids. It can begin working within minutes to restore breathing, consciousness, and save a life.

“The Will County Health Department is continuing to make Naloxone readily available throughout the county,” said Dr. Kathleen Burke, Will County Health Department’s Program Coordinator for Substance Use Initiatives. “Adding a distribution box at the Veterans Assistance Commission is a great step to help us make this life-saving drug available to our veterans.”

Will County Health Department’s 10 distribution boxes were donated by Saved My Life, an Illinois non-profit organized as a conduit to provide access to free Naloxone in public spaces and business throughout Illinois. Will County’s 10 distribution boxes can be found at the following locations:

• The Will County Health Department – Main Office (501 Ella Ave. – Joliet)
• The Will County Community Health Center (1106 Neal Ave. – Joliet)
• The Will County Health Department Northern Branch Office (323 Quadrangle Dr. – Bolingbrook)
• Will County Court House – Two distribution boxes (100 W. Jefferson St – Joliet)
• Will County Office Building (302 N. Chicago St. – Joliet)
• Veterans Assistance Commission of Will County (2400 Glenwood Ave. – Suite 110 – Joliet)
• White Oak Library District – Crest Hill Branch (20670 City Center Blvd. – Crest Hill)
• White Oak Library District – Lockport Branch (121 E. 8th St. – Lockport)
• White Oak Library District – Romeoville Branch (201 W. Normantown Rd. – Romeoville)

The goal of the distribution boxes is to make Naloxone more readily available to the public for emergency use. In 2023, there were 95 opioid overdose deaths in Will County, down from 112 the previous year. In 2023, 103 overdoses were reversed, more than double the total from 2022. The Will County Health Department distributed over 11,000 Naloxone kits last year.

“When we started our distribution box program earlier this year, our goal was to create an effective way to make Naloxone more readily available throughout Will County,” said Burke. “We want the community to understand that many of the utilizers of these boxes are people who are not using opioids, but they want to be able to assist in an emergency situation or perhaps they have a family member or friend who is struggling with a substance use disorder, and they want to be prepared. I encourage everyone to keep naloxone with you, in your home, and in first aid kits as it’s a life-saving medication to use in a rescue situation and minutes count in an overdose situation.”