This Must Be the Place
Written By: Douglas Carruthers | Photos By: Ben Leeson
Standing atop the iconic stage, Chip Monck, Woodstock’s MC, announced before the assembled crowd to stay away from the brown acid. “It’s suggested that you do stay away from that,” declared Chip, as that particular batch was not “specifically good.” He would go on to state that it was anyone’s own trip and to be “advised that there was a warning label on it.” Over 50 years later, Chip’s work of harm reduction at music festivals continues when an unlikely pair hit the road on a mission to keep festivals overdose-free.
Sitting together at their base of operations in Columbus, OH, This Must Be The Place founders Ingela Travers-Hayward, and William Perry talked with us about their history, their mission, and what they hope to accomplish in the future. Together, they’re dedicated to spreading overdose prevention and fentanyl awareness to create environments that are free from harm. Traveling to music festivals across North America, they’ve helped achieve their mission with a booth providing free doses of the life-saving medicine, Naloxone. Naloxone is a simple, easy-to-use nasal device that blocks the effects of opioids in the brain. It has no negative side effects and has been used in hospitals for over 50 years.
Since beginning their project in 2022, their initial goal was to pass out 10,000 doses of Naloxone in their first year. Remarkably, they surpassed that goal within 109 days. This year, they hope to triple the amount.
For Perry, the issue of drug usage is personal. He spent 10 years in prison for committing crimes to feed his own drug addiction. Once incarcerated, Perry admitted that he did not get clean instantly as “drugs can sometimes be a lot easier to get inside than off the streets.” Over time, he began to take advantage of his situation. He got clean and secured a free college education to become a licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. In 2020, Perry contracted Covid-19, which nearly killed him shortly before his summer release.
“Once I got out, I wanted to set the record straight, do good for the world for what I felt like I had taken from it.”
Since the Nixon era, the conversation around drug usage has largely labeled drugs as public enemy no. 1. This discourse led to policies that saw a sharp rise in incarceration rates. “The Politicians have only looked to blame someone,” Perry said, echoing the frustrations many feel with the legacy of the war on drugs. Despite this, their efforts have been met with open arms. Countless people of all ages and backgrounds come to the booth for education about overdose prevention. Perry and Ingela are thrilled to oblige.
The height of the opioid epidemic in the mid to late 2010’s opened many eyes regarding drugs in modern society. “We were losing friends one after another,” Perry recalled. The Midwest was an epicenter, with Ohio being one of the hardest hit. Because of this, Ohio ramped up its investments in harm reduction efforts. “As we travel around, we take the ‘Ohio-method’ and go national,” Perry explained. Ohio is one of three states that provides Naloxone for free. “Ohio is doing this better than anyone else,” Ingela proclaimed. A fact that was made more evident when they pointed to boxes of fentanyl test strips around their office granted to them by the Ohio Department of Health. Fentanyl test strips remain controversial among most music festival vendors. Perry and Ingela hope that this will change as the conversation continues.
“As we travel around, we take the ‘Ohio-method’ and go national”
Only two years in, the pair have made huge strides in overdose prevention education and supplying mountains of Naloxone to anyone interested. This year was significant as their banner was seen on the rotating graphics of Lollapalooza’s mainstage for all 115,000 attendees. Out of 1.5 million non-profits in the U.S., This Must Be The Place stands out as a unique organization in its mission and operation. All great things start small and Ingela and Perry have been helping where they can, making a difference in the fight against fentanyl, one dose of Naloxone at a time.
Published December 28, 2023