Peers Offering Wellness Education and Resources
Our mission is to help people safeguard themselves and others from mental, physical, and societal harms. We are here to save lives, reduce harm, and address risky behaviors. We offer non-judgemental support and information to the communities we love.
Our team does outreach throughout Baltimore—providing naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and information about support and resources.
To learn more, visit our Facebook page or email us.
We want to honor and celebrate members of Bmore POWER who contributed to Go Slow and are no longer with us.
PHAEDRA WARD
Phaedra Ward was a joyous, creative, and loving person who worked with Bmore POWER from 2016 to 2018. She was a poet and the author of the book Recoveroetry. In 2017, Phaedra was heartbroken by the deadly impact of fentanyl on her friends and in her community. She wanted to create a public-education campaign to warn people about the dangers of fentanyl and save lives. Her vision became Go Slow. Phaedra inspired many people in the recovery and harm reduction communities in Baltimore.
WILLIAM MILLER, SR.
William Miller, Sr. was one of the founders of Bmore POWER. Senior dedicated his life to building Baltimore’s peer-led harm reduction movement. He was an inspiring community organizer who fought systems of oppression and worked toward liberation. He was loved and respected by harm reduction advocates in Baltimore and beyond. We are humbled by his legacy and will continue fighting for the dignity and rights of people who use drugs.
The Go Slow campaign was created by Bmore POWER with support from Behavioral Health System Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs and Mission Media. To learn more about the process for creating Go Slow, read - Go Slow: Baltimore’s Peer-Led Harm Reduction Campaign.
William Jenkins knew the dangers of fentanyl. He had seen his friends overdose from not knowing what they were taking. In August 2020 William received a safe supply kit and Go Slow overdose prevention information from his friend and Bmore POWER member Shelly Johnson. When he got home and prepared to take his drugs, he looked at the Go Slow message and it caused him to stop and think. He took a smaller dose and it saved his life. William said:
I know God has a plan for me. If not, I wouldn’t have seen Shelly that day. She gave me Go Slow and it saved my life. My life has been on an upward journey ever since.
William is now in recovery. Read his full story here.