Who We Are
We are a group of volunteers and staff committed to reducing the harm that can be associated with drug use. Collectively we dream of a community in which we have eliminated preventable deaths due to drug use and a toxic drug supply that is a direct result of the war on drugs. We recognize that the war on drugs has been a racist war disproportionally decimating the poor and marginalized among us. The 50 year old war has fueled mass incarceration in a racist criminal justice system.
We welcome participants of our program to volunteer. Many of our volunteers have personal experience with drug use. Nothing about us without us.
What We Do
We meet people where they are. We are here to listen and process the experience of drug use. We provide a safe space for a person to define their own wellness. We acknowledge that drug use can be nuanced from non problematic to dependence to addiction. We also provide material support for our community: we distribute Naloxone, wound care supplies, and educational materials. We give people access to clean syringes and supplies necessary to prevent death and the spread of preventable infections. We provide a proper place to dispose of used syringes and acquire new sharps containers. We have paid staff to assist with navigation of a variety of services including low barrier Medication Assisted Therapy.
Why We Do It
We understand that there are real and perceived barriers to accessing services in a medical model, and we are committed to low barrier, no questions asked, anonymous service for people who request supplies.
We live by the core principles of harm reduction. For better or worse there are activities that will happen. We have an obligation to keep people safe whether it be in the form of a life jacket for swimming, a seat belt for driving, or clean single use syringes for using drugs. An expectation of abstinence for an activity may not be safe. We let the individual determine what they need to reduce the harm from drug use.
Small positive changes can have profound effects on an individual. It can be the difference between chaos and a healthier life.
“…the Harm Reduction Coalition has filled a major void after the county began cutting back hours for syringe distribution at its Emeline health campus.”