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Lowell investing $1.2M to fight heroin epidemic

Recently in Lowell, there were 17 overdoses in 72 hours, two of them fatal.
Every day, as part of Lowell's "Community Opioid Outreach Program," Lowell Police Officer Kevin Garneau teams up with Outreach Specialist Louie Diaz and others to drive around and encourage people who have recently overdosed but survived to seek treatment.
It’s a mission that's often times overwhelming.
In the first nine months this year alone, there have been 48 fatal overdoses in Lowell. Last year, there were 46.
To help lower that number down, the Lowell police department is using $1.2 million in federal grants to expand their co-op program by hiring more staff, including mental health counselors, adding a full-time substance abuse coordinator, and targeting drug traffickers. It’s not an easy issue to tackle, but police hope more staff can make a difference.
“If we get to help even one...It makes what we're doing...It solidifies what we're doing,” Garneau told FOX25.
For one man, it has made all the difference. 
“Through the grace of God and them helping me, I am here to tell my story,” said Jaime Vasquez. 
Jaime Vasquez said his journey with opioids started 20 years ago. His rock bottom was earlier this year, when he was living in a tent city in Lowell. But that's where he says his life was saved, thanks to Garneau and Diaz. 
"They stressed our lives did matter and that's what gave me motivation to get up and do something," he told FOX25. 
Police Superintendent William Taylor said they expect to receive the grant money in the next few months and immediately put it to use.

LOWELL, Mass. — RELATED: