Dr.Shaka Making things happen in health

Faith leaders are fighting the Bronx opioid crisis on the ground

In 2017, some south Bronx neighborhoods experienced a rate of overdose-related deaths more than twice that of the citywide average.

Interfaith Minister Shaka Aziz, left, Bronx borough supervisor of the New York State Chaplain Task Force the Rev. Kim Osorio, and peer co-chair of the Peer Network of New York Marilyn Reyes are among the New Yorkers fighting the Bronx opiod epidemic. 

The opioid epidemic has devastated New York City, and no where more than the Bronx. 

The city's northernmost borough is struggling with some of the highest rates of overdose-related deaths in the city, with 184 people dying in the first half of last year, according to the city's Department of Health. And in 2017, some South Bronx neighborhoods (Hunts Point, Mott Haven, Highbridge and Morrisania) experienced a rate of overdose-related deaths more than twice that of the citywide average. 

Among those fighting on the front lines are community faith leaders. The Faith in Harm Reduction program is a partnership between the Harm Reduction Coalition and Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village that was launched about 18 months ago. The program works with community faith leaders on education and overdose prevention training, and receives funding from the city's Health Department. 

Shaka Aziz

Title: Interfaith minister

Aziz, 46, turns to his Muslim faith when it comes to helping people overcome addiction, in addition to recommending holistic approaches including acupuncture and counseling. He is a licensed interfaith chaplain who speaks to people in mosques, churches and synagogues. He joined Faith in Harm Reduction last summer.

"A lot of people, unfortunately, need to be educated about this whole opioid war that's been waged upon the people. A lot of it is because a lot of people within the community suffer based upon lack of knowledge," he said. "I also feel there's not enough connection: You have a lot of people who are still under the misnomer that ... drug addiction is a bad word and only for bad people who are cursed. But in reality, when you close your eyes and you look at it, it's almost all of us. If it's not us individually, it may be someone in our family."

Aziz spends every Thursday in the Bronx doing community outreach and recalled helping one man become drug free through prayer, acupuncture and breathing. 

"That's the best part ... is bringing peace, happiness and joy and healing to someone," he said. "The part that really woke me up and shook me up ... he was saying he didn't ask to be like this and he doesn't know why this happened to him, and could we help him ... It's a been a year now and he's been clean."

"Addiction has no discrimination," Aziz added. "We need to stop playing the games and start getting active."