Meet Phoebe: New van brings overdose prevention support to Brooklyn streets
Phoebe will travel to neighborhoods including East New York, Brownsville, Flatbush, Williamsburg and Bushwick, according to Phoenix House.
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A new van named Phoebe is getting ready to bring overdose prevention and recovery support to Brooklyn neighborhoods.
Phoenix House introduced the van outside Barclays Center on Wednesday during National Recovery Month. At a table beside it, staff handed out information and showed passersby how to use Narcan, a medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose.
Phoebe will travel to neighborhoods including East New York, Brownsville, Flatbush, Williamsburg and Bushwick, according to Phoenix House. The van will offer Narcan training, support from people who have been through recovery and help connecting visitors with other services. Phoenix House has not yet provided a schedule for its stops.
Inside are two seating areas where someone can talk with a recovery worker. Shaun Willis, Phoenix House's director of recovery services and outreach, said staff can help visitors figure out their next step. If someone wants treatment, he said, the group can also help pay for transportation to a treatment center.
"We use our lived experience to help other people," Willis said during a tour of the van.
Phoenix House already has a recovery center in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Its president and CEO, Ann-Marie Foster, said the van gives staff a way to reach people who may never visit the building.
"We have a brick-and-mortar building in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and so we expect people to come into us. But we know that that's not always the answer," Foster said.
One Bed-Stuy resident, Shawn, stopped at Wednesday's table to learn about Narcan. He said he has seen the toll of overdoses in his neighborhood.
"I know a few people didn't make it this year. A few," he said.
Overdose deaths have fallen across the city, but New York City Health Department figures show 2,192 New Yorkers died from overdoses in 2024, down from 3,056 in 2023.
Phoebe's launch is part of a $12 million citywide investment in recovery services and outreach, funded by money from opioid settlements. The investment supports several organizations; Phoenix House has not said how much is going toward its van.
Phoebe is the first of five outreach vans Phoenix House plans to launch. The group says people can check phoenixhouse.org for information about its Brooklyn stops.
