ROCHESTER, N.H. — Megan Merrill paused, mid-hike, as she surveyed the steep drop before her. She was standing on a five-foot snow drift, icy and brittle after 10 days of unrelenting New England cold, below which lay the railroad tracks that serve as a de facto border between the town behind her and the homeless encampment in front.
She took the downward slope at a gallop, using her oversized backpack as a counterweight. The bag was made heavy with a stockpile of harm reduction supplies meant to help vulnerable drug users stay healthy and avoid disease, including sterile syringes, condoms, emergency blankets, and hand warmers.
