For the first time in years, Jeffrey Middleton can imagine a future. What changed? The staff at Prevention Point Philadelphia’s (PPP) mobile unit connected him to housing at PPP’s Beacon House as well as ongoing medical care at PPP, including its medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) clinic.
“For a while there, I just didn’t care about anything,” says Jeffrey, 40, who had been living on and off the streets of Kensington for the last five years. “Now I kind of do.”
PPP has given Jeffrey what no one else has: unconditional support and acceptance as well as appreciation for all the work he’s put in as he’s fought to end his cycle of addiction.
“I got fed up with being around people back home. They were down my throat about every little thing. I couldn’t do anything right, and even if I was doing everything right, I was wrong,” Jeffrey says. “Even if I wasn’t using substances, I was getting accused of using substances. I was beaten down. I just gave up.”
Like many teens, Jeffrey experimented with marijuana in his youth. His substance use didn’t take a serious turn until he was 20, when he started using cocaine.
“I don’t know when it happened, but it happened. I started using like crazy,” he says.
He moved on to heroin, occasionally breaking free of its hold but always finding his way back. He spent a few years behind bars and, when he came out, he thought he was on a better path. He found a job and was working regularly until an on-the-job injury introduced him to painkillers. He moved to Kensington about five years ago, living on the streets for much of that time. He knew of PPP because he had used its syringe services program in the past, but knew little about its other services.
That changed in December 2024, when Jeffrey found out about PPP’s mobile unit, currently located on North Front and East Tusculum Streets. There, Dr. Judy Chertok helped him start Suboxone treatment for opioid use.
“They’re really nice people. Really good people,” Jeffrey says. “And Dr. Chertok is a great doc. She goes above and beyond… It’s very interactive. She checked my lungs and stuff and none of the other doctors did that.”
When temperatures dropped below freezing a couple months ago, the staff on the mobile unit encouraged him to move inside. Still, he hesitated.
“I was apprehensive about going into a shelter because I didn’t want a curfew and them kicking me out at 5:00 in the morning and most of them are like that,” he says.
But Beacon House, they promised, was different. He would have a warm place to stay, they said, and PPP staff would connect him with health care providers so he could continue to receive Suboxone. And there wouldn’t be a wait: A bed was ready immediately.
“I walked right in the door,” Jeffrey says. “I love it here… When you know the street like I know the street, you don’t take stuff like this for granted.”
Jeffrey is working with his housing case manager to find a permanent home. He will soon be connected to long-term substance use treatment at PPP, and he is utilizing its wound care services. He’d also like to get connected to mental health care through his new MOUD case manager.
“I want to not die, live a little bit,” Jeffrey says of his new life. “I care a little bit more than I did.”