When Max’s Mission Founder Julia Pinsky lost her son Max to an overdose in 2016, she couldn’t stop asking herself one question:
What could have saved his life?
The answer was naloxone.
Today, naloxone is widely recognized as an essential tool for preventing overdose deaths. It can be found in schools, libraries, health clinics, fire departments and community organizations across Oregon. But when Max’s Mission began, that wasn’t the case.
“So few people knew about naloxone,” Julia Pinsky said. “We could see the power of it.”
A two-dose kit cost around $180. Insurance coverage was limited. Community organizations couldn’t afford to distribute it, and many people — including family members of people who used drugs — had never heard of it.
Julia and her husband, David, decided to change that.
After raising enough money through a GoFundMe campaign to purchase about 20 naloxone kits, they organized community meetings throughout Southern Oregon with local public health leaders and community partners. They believed they couldn’t ask people to learn about naloxone without putting it directly into their hands.
“It was basic,” Julia said. “But it was lifesaving.”
As Max’s Mission expanded across Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties, the organization became one of the earliest and strongest advocates for widespread naloxone distribution in Southern and rural Oregon. The team trained hundreds of community members, partnered with treatment providers, public health agencies and coordinated care organizations, and helped change state policies and normalize carrying naloxone as an act of community care.
Max’s Mission also challenged the assumption that naloxone was only for people actively using drugs — a powerful misconception that carried stigma and judgment.
“People who use drugs need naloxone,” she said. “But so do the people who love them.”
As the organization worked to put naloxone into the hands of parents, siblings, friends, teachers, neighbors and anyone who might witness an overdose, naloxone became more than an emergency medication.
“It opened doors and conversations,” Julia said. “Naloxone gave loved ones of people who use drugs a tangible action to express care, without shame or judgment. Giving someone a naloxone kit showed you cared.”
In fact, several Max’s Mission staff have personally benefited from naloxone distributed by the organization — and one of them has in turn reversed at least 50 overdoses in the community.
Over the past decade, Max’s Mission has continued to innovate as the state’s overdose response has evolved.
The organization now operates outreach seven days a week across three rural counties, maintains more than 100 publicly accessible NaloxBoxes, offers naloxone by mail in Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties, and partners with fire departments on leave-behind programs that ensure people have access to naloxone after an overdose response.
For Julia, every naloxone kit represents hope. It gives people the chance to survive long enough to seek support and heal.
