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Close the bathroom door at Supportive Place for Observation and Treatment (SPOT), and you have two minutes and 50 seconds. Then the alarm sounds, warning staff to check on the person inside. People sometimes inject drugs in SPOT’s bathroom, just as they do in the bathrooms of Starbucks or McDonald’s. The longer you wait to reverse an overdose, the harder it gets. SPOT, run by Boston Health Care for the Homeless, has had to shorten that window, from five minutes, to four, to three, and now, to two minutes and 50 seconds — even a 10-second margin means life or death.

Many people use drugs far from the clinicians who could save their lives if they overdose. And the drugs they use have become more lethal — fentanyl, a synthetic opioid many times more potent than heroin, is now common throughout Massachusetts. People die within minutes after injection. SPOT cares for people who’ve already used. But, it would be better to have clinicians present during the life-threatening moments of and right after drug use.

WCVB's Karen Holmes Ward will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies at the 2019 Medicine that Matters Gala!

For the second straight year, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church converted its social hall and kitchen into assembly lines to package 10,000 meals for the Outreach Program.

According to Martin, the completed meal packages will be distributed to NuDay, a program helping refugees in Syria, as well as local food pantries such as A Place to Turn in Natick, the Newton Food Pantry and Boston Health Care for the Homeless.

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Massachusetts' top two youth volunteers of 2019, Julia Cuddy, 17, of Needham and Will Gladstone, 14, of Arlington, were honored in the nation's capital last night for their outstanding volunteer service during the 24th annual presentation of The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Julia and Will – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – received a $1,000 award and personal congratulations from award-winning actress Viola Davis at an award ceremony and gala dinner reception held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.