Jocelyn Kay, SafeRX Mendocino Opioid Safety Coalition

Jocelyn Kay is an AmeriCorps VISTA serving with Safe Rx Mendocino Opioid Safety Coalition. Safe Rx Mendocino works with community partners to raise awareness about local overdose prevention initiatives, coordinate programs and encourage multi-sector involvement in Mendocino County’s harm reduction efforts. Since its creation in 2015, Safe Rx Mendocino has helped to drastically reduce the number of opioid prescriptions in Mendocino County and has saved hundreds of lives through NARCAN distribution. 
  
Jocelyn regularly creates graphics for Safe Rx Mendocino as well as sharing resources on social media platforms. Jocelyn is most proud of the fentanyl outreach and education posters she has created which have been used throughout Mendocino county and beyond. Currently, she is helping to update the Safe Rx Mendocino website with new information. Jocelyn says “For members working on similar projects, I suggest looking into sites such as Canva, Infogram and Hootsuite. My host site provided paid memberships on these sites and this made my tasks much more manageable.”  
  
Looking forward, Safe Rx Mendocino will shift the focus of the coalition to include issues such as psychostimulant abuse/overdose in addition to opioids. Serving with AmeriCorps VISTA has inspired Jocelyn to pursue a career in the public health field in hopes to continue to improve the lives of communities in need. 

Jocelyn finished her service in March 2023 and is now working at University of San Diego School of Leadership and Education Sciences.