Health boxes offer free supplies
The health box located at the lower-level entrance of the Crawford County Administrative Building in Prairie du Chien. Three other boxes are located in Ferryville, Gays Mills and Wauzeka. Each box holds free health supplies for anyone that needs them. (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
By Steve Van Kooten
Drug addiction, sexually transmitted diseases, and other risk behaviors are pervasive throughout the country, even in predominantly rural communities like Crawford County.
To combat substance abuse and the proliferation of communicable disease, four new health boxes have been placed in different parts of Crawford County over the past month to help distribute free health-and-wellness materials to the public, especially in rural areas where resources are limited.
“One of the ongoing challenges we hear from residents of Crawford County is that most of the services and resources in the county are located in Prairie du Chien, which is at the very southern tip of the county,” Crawford County Health Officer Sonya Lenzendorf wrote. “This can create hardship for individuals who may have limited transportation.”
The four boxes are located at the lower-level entrance of the Crawford County Administrative Building in Prairie du Chien, the Ferryville Fire Department, the Ocooch Mountain Rescue Building in Gays Mills and the Wauzeka City Hall.
Accessibility is key: the boxes are stationed outside of the buildings to help those who can’t make it to the Public Health Department office in Prairie du Chien during normal business hours, and there is no cost for the supplies.
Use of the boxes is supposed to be anonymous; each one is outside and does not have any surveillance equipment.
The Public Health Department monitors the boxes to replenish supplies.
So, what’s inside these boxes?
Dawn Adams, public health specialist for Crawford County, said, “It’s about harm reduction — lots of good stuff in those machines: fentanyl test strips, personal hygiene items, COVID tests, basic first-aid kits, and gun locks, and we plan to get more things in there.”
We’ve come a long way from making the agonizing choice between a Heath Bar and a Snickers when we use a vending machine.
This past September, Crawford County obtained a grant through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for the boxes. The grant focused on harm-reduction products, such as Narcan and condoms, for substance use and communicable diseases. The county used American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to stock the boxes with other health products, including the COVID tests and first aid kits.
The Health Boxes are a joint effort between Crawford County’s Health and Human Services, Emergency Management and Emergency Medical Services agencies. Each department identified needs in the community through the services they provide.
