Drew Hawkins

2 weeks ago | wwno.org | Drew Hawkins

This story was produced in partnership with the Springboard Project at Type Investigations, with support from the Gertrude Blumenthal Kasbekar Fund. Editor's Note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault which may be disturbing to some readers. Julie Ford doesn’t remember everything about her assault. She remembers being tired as she neared the end of her usual jogging route atop the Mississippi River levee in New Orleans. She remembers passing someone sitting on a bench.

2 weeks ago | mpbonline.org | Drew Hawkins

Julie Ford doesn’t remember everything about her assault. She remembers being tired as she neared the end of her usual jogging route atop the Mississippi River levee in New Orleans. She remembers passing someone sitting on a bench. She remembers being “tackled like a football player.”The rest comes in flashes. Fighting him off. Dragging herself through the dirt. Calling for help.

2 weeks ago | wwno.org | Drew Hawkins

Belinda Smith swats her grandson’s hand away and snatches the brown paper bag of popcorn from her seat, rolling the top closed tight. “Go on and get your own,” she says to the boy. “There’s plenty for everybody.”On this warm Saturday night at the high school baseball field in Glenmora, Louisiana, families unfold camping chairs and spread out blankets, creating islands in the infield. An inflatable projector screen is set up and a line forms at a popcorn cart.

1 month ago | wwno.org | Drew Hawkins

As soon as the presentation starts, the voice of the former high school physics teacher inside of Has Cornelissen takes over. “OK, colleagues,” he says, clasping his hands together with enthusiasm. “Super fantastic you are all here.”Cornelissen is presenting a safe-injection training to his staff at Mainline, a harm reduction organization in the Netherlands.

1 month ago | mpbonline.org | Drew Hawkins

The purpose of the training isn’t to promote drug use. It’s to reduce the harm of using drugs — to teach safer practices and prevent overdoses, infections, and injuries. “It comes with serious risks,” Cornelissen says about using opioids. “And the overdose is that your heart stops beating. And death is the next step, which happens a lot in the United States of America. That’s where the harm reduction comes in place.”The Netherlands averages around 300 overdose deaths per year.