The #RecoveryFirst Podcast with Mike Todd and guest Kris & Rose Stepp and Austin WrightThe #RecoveryFirst Podcast with Mike Todd and guest Kris & Rose Stepp and Austin Wright
The Recovery First Addiction Recovery Podcast by Freedom Recovery Services of Greenville
Kris and Rose Stepp share how their daughter Jessica’s death led to an overdose awareness walk and hands-on harm reduction work in Greenville. Austin Wright adds perspective from Florida’s syringe access efforts, highlighting the legal, funding, and stigma challenges in keeping people who use drugs alive.
1:00:36•30 Jul 2021
Keeping People Alive: Jessica’s Walk, Harm Reduction, and the Jessie Mae Bus
Episode Overview
- Personal loss can lead to powerful community action, as shown by Jessica’s Walk for Overdose Awareness growing far beyond its original expectations.
- Harm reduction efforts like naloxone distribution and clean syringes are framed as essential tools to keep people alive, rather than as encouragement to use drugs.
- Pushback from churches, businesses, and law enforcement is common, but advocates focus on education, facts, and moving on when debates go nowhere.
- Legal syringe access and naloxone programmes often exist with strict rules and no public funding, pushing advocates to rely on private grants and creativity.
- Treating people who use drugs with dignity and simple human connection can quickly build trust and make them more likely to seek help and treatment.
“Drug users do not deserve to die.”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This episode of The Recovery First Addiction Recovery Podcast spotlights grassroots harm reduction, grief, and community action in a very real, very human way. Host Mike Todd welcomes Kris and Rose Stepp, along with Austin Wright, to talk about how personal loss turned into a movement. Kris and Rose share how the death of their daughter Jessica led them to start "Jessica’s Walk for Overdose Awareness" in Greenville, South Carolina.
Expect honest talk about grief, courage, and how a small idea became a 150-strong community walk, with photos, vigils, and a powerful sense of solidarity. From there, the conversation shifts into harm reduction. Kris explains how meeting advocate Mark Burrows moved him from curiosity to action, handing out naloxone and clean syringes from the boot of his car before the Jessie Mae Harm Reduction Bus came along.
As Mike bluntly states, "Drug users do not deserve to die," and the episode keeps circling back to that simple truth. Austin Wright joins from Florida’s FLASH (Florida Access to Syringe and Health Services) programme, comparing South Carolina’s current struggles with Florida’s earlier battles over syringe access and naloxone. He breaks down legal red tape, funding limits, and why one-for-one syringe rules don’t match what research shows about preventing HIV and hepatitis C.
Throughout, you’ll hear stories of mothers in unimaginable grief, people hunting used syringes in bins, churches pushing back, and others stepping up to help. The tone stays compassionate and practical, with plenty of straight talking about stigma, legislation, and the reality that keeping people alive has to come first.
If you’re curious about harm reduction, struggling with loss, or just wondering how ordinary people start saving lives in their own town, this conversation might be the nudge that gets you more involved.
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