Rebecca Conklin learned how to use Narcan at the syringe exchange program she’s been attending in the Bronx for the past six months. Teaching addicts how to spot an overdose and bring someone back to life is just one of the many services that St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction offers. There’s also housing information, showers and acupuncture — the last, Conklin says, helps ease the pain from her cervical cancer.

It's services like these that keep Conklin coming back; the Narcan stays with her, on her person, no matter what. Since she’s learned how, she’s had to use the spray twice, on the same friend. But then one time Conklin wasn’t around, and her friend overdosed — and died.

It’s that friend Conklin thought about when she saw the news on T.V. Friday morning that St. Ann's would soon expand to have "a safe injection site," a designated space for users to inject illegal drugs, one of four Mayor Bill de Blasio is planning to pilot across the city. The staff there is trained to reverse accidental overdoses.

Conklin thinks her friend would have gone to the safe injection space if he’d stayed around long enough for the opening.

“He was the type that didn’t like to do anything in front of anyone because he was ashamed, whereas if he had a place like this I know he would have gone,” she said.

Shame and stigma are the very things places like St. Ann’s are trying to break through.

“If I tell you what you should do you might never want to talk to me again," said Van Asher, the syringe access program manager there.

Asher says safe injection spaces will continue to combat shame and stigma, and may save many lives in the process.