If you need it, NEW Sober Living’s Eli Phillips and Angie Levens do not mind refilling a vending machine outside their future thrift shop. Inside the vending machine are primarily products used to combat fentanyl, which includes testing strips and Narcan, the medicine often used to reverse an opioid overdose. The idea came to Levens and Phillips at a conference in Green Bay where they learned similar machines were already operating in Milwaukee and Rock counties. Knowing people who have died from opioid overdoses and the prevalence of fentanyl in Door County, Phillips and Levens agreed that the $500 investment in a used vending machine to distribute the free products was worth it if it meant saving a life.

In the week since Phllips and Levens installed the machine, two test strips and four boxes of Narcan have already been claimed. NEW Sober Living is a newly established non-profit in Door County aimed at helping people manage their sobriety. Phillips is proud of the success they have already had in the organization’s infancy with five people graduating from their program. The vending machine is located across the parking lot from Door County Habitat for Humanity’s offices and ReStore.