AUSTIN, Texas — Nonprofits and Travis County leaders are calling for more funding and resources to curb overdose deaths.
This comes after a surge in overdoses earlier this month in the Downtown Austin area. Austin-Travis County EMS responded to 79 suspected overdoses and reported nine deaths.
The Texas Harm Reduction Alliance (THRA) was out administrating Narcan after the overdose outbreak. The THRA is calling for more assistance to fight the crisis and for fentanyl strips to be legalized in Texas.
“The fentanyl testing strips, xylazine testing strips, all of those are another important piece. The other piece is having meaningful education," THRA Outreach Coordinator Lilly Hughes said.
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Caroline Williams, who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose, said more needs to be done to prevent overdose deaths.
“We need more fentanyl strips. We need more Narcan. We need more help. We need more funding, like harm reduction,” Williams said.
Felix Gonzalez, who lives on the streets of Austin, said he has seen overdoses firsthand.
"It's heart-wrenching. In the past two years, I have had more family and friends die than I have had in my whole life," he said.
For now, nonprofits said they will continue educating the community and hope they can put a dent in the crisis.