Opioid overdose reversal kits, lidocaine and HIV tests are just some of the items you can now get from a vending machine in Seward. But unlike other vending machines, the items in this one are available for free. Seward city officials and the Qutekcak Native Tribe unveiled the community wellness vending machine Wednesday. They hope the vending machine will promote public health and save lives.
From far away, it looks like a regular vending machine – one you might expect to be filled with soda or candy bars. But up close, it’s clear the new boxy installation outside of the Qutekcak Native Tribe building in Seward is something different.
It’s wrapped in a bright blue design that’s adapted from a mural created by local painter Susan Swiderski to honor the tribe’s history and culture. Inside are opioid overdose reversal kits, Alka-Seltzer cold and flu medicine and personal hygiene products – all available for free, 24/7, 365 days a year.
Speaking to a small group gathered outside the building, to the beat of a drum, tribal program manager Krisnan Weston says it’s more than a machine.
“It represents hope, prevention, and compassion and action,” she said. “Every item inside has the potential to improve life, support families, and strengthen our community. Because health begins with access, healing begins with compassion, and our shared vision is every healthy community begins with people who choose to care for one another.”
The vending machine is one of several installed around Alaska through a grant program offered by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Another machine opened this week in Juneau.
Kristin Wise, executive assistant to Seward’s city manager, says the city and tribe each applied for the program on their own and later joined forces.
“We had a loss in our community back in the fall due to an overdose, and there was a lot of community, obviously heartbreak around that loss, and so it got brought up in a council meeting, from the perspective of the city that we needed to do something,” she said.
While Wise talks, tribal employees restock some of the items in the machine. She says that will happen year-round – rain or shine, winter or summer – for at least the next year. The city and tribe are working with organizations to keep the machine stocked.
The city and tribe plan to switch out products depending on what might be needed during different times of the year. There’s a big touchscreen on the machine that asks visitors to fill out an anonymous survey that Wise says will help inform what products should be replenished. The survey does not need to be completed for someone to take items.
Wise says anonymity is important, and that the location was selected to help ensure the best access possible.
“Sometimes there can be barriers,” she said. “You know, we have a Narcan at city hall, but someone might just feel weird about coming into the same place that there's a police station to get Narcan.”
Narcan is the brand name for naloxone, a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose.
Dolly Wiles is the tribal administrator for the Qutekcak Native Tribe. She says saving even one life means the initiative was worth it.
“It's an amazing thing that we're doing here for our community, for our tribe. As we spoke earlier, one of the most important things and valuable things I think about this is it could – we could be saving someone's life.”
Seward’s Community Wellness Vending Machine is located at 221 3rd Ave., near the Seward Children’s Museum. There are no fees, identification requirements or eligibility restrictions to use it.
