OUR MOVEMENT IN MOTION
August 28, 2025


SECTION 1: News and Announcements

+ CELEBRATING HISTORIC FUNDING FOR LGBTQIA+ FOLKS: NHRC’s Lighthouse Learning Collective received $50,000 from the New York City Council as part of a historic $13.725 million budget win for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers. The funding is part of the council's $6.45 million Trans Equity Initiative, which funds programs to support TGNCNB (Trans, Gender Non-conforming, Non-binary) New Yorkers. This is double the existing funding previously allocated. Lighthouse plans to use this funding to build on the forthcoming "A Gender-Affirming Harm Reduction Workshop" by continuing and expanding this in-person event, while also launching a series of harm reduction trainings across NYC. Read more via Gothamist’s coverage here, and check out the press conference coverage here.

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+ CENTERING CARE: NHRC’s Lighthouse Learning Collective is hosting "Centering Care: A Gender-Affirming Harm Reduction Workshop for Social Service Providers," an in-person event at the NHRC office in New York City on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check out the application and registration form here for more information! The form is in English and Spanish, and there will be live Spanish interpretation for those who need it.

Link: bit.ly/CENTERINGCARE25


+ LAST CALL FOR NATIONAL SURVEY OF SYRINGE SERVICES PROGRAMS (NSSSP): The National Survey of Syringe Services Programs (NSSSP) closes in 3 days on August 31, and we need your feedback! NHRC, in collaboration with the North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN) and RTI International, launched the 2025 NSSSP in early March. We thank everyone who has already submitted their survey. The NSSSP provides crucial data to highlight the life-saving work as well as challenges SSPs face across the country. Tracking SSP budgets and other data over time helps us advocate for more resources. Participating programs will be mailed a $125 check after completing the survey as a thank you. Check your inbox for an email invitation from Lynn Wenger ([email protected]) and see FAQs for more information in English and Spanish. If you have not received a survey invitation or you can’t find yours, you can request one here. If you have any questions, please reach out to Lynn at [email protected].

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+ SSPS IMPROVE BUPRENORPHINE ACCESS/LOS SSPS MEJORAN EL ACCESO A LA BUPRENORFINA: Life-saving Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) connect program participants with a range of care, support services, and medications, including buprenorphine. NHRC, in collaboration with our partners at RTI International and the North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN), have published fact sheets in Spanish and English that highlight the experiences 20 SSPs have had integrating buprenorphine into their work with program participants. The fact sheets include information about how SSPs can increase buprenorphine access for participants, challenges and opportunities, and more. Access the fact sheets here to learn more.

Los Programas de Servicios de Jeringas que Salvan Vidas (SSP) conectan a los participantes con una variedad de cuidados, servicios de apoyo y medicamentos, incluyendo buprenorfina. El NHRC, en colaboración con nuestros socios de RTI International y la Red Norteamericana de Intercambio de Jeringas (NASEN), ha publicado hojas informativas en español e inglés que destacan las experiencias de 20 SSP al integrar la buprenorfina en su trabajo con los participantes. Las hojas informativas incluyen información sobre cómo los SSP pueden aumentar el acceso a la buprenorfina para los participantes, los desafíos y las oportunidades, y más. Acceda a las hojas informativas aquí para obtener más información.

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harmreduction.org/resource-center/
bit.ly/MejorandoElAccesoALaBuprenorfina
bit.ly/ImprovingBupeAccess


+ NHRC IS ON BLUESKY: NHRC has joined the Bluesky party! We're thrilled to share yet another way folks can follow us for more news, announcements, resources, and more from the harm reduction movement and interconnected public health and social justice work. Follow along here.

Link: bit.ly/NHRCBluesky


+ SURVEY FOR PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS: Corporación Acción Técnica Social (Colombia) in collaboration with Instituto RIA, AC (Mexico) is looking to hear from people who use cocaine as part of their research developing a public policy proposal for cocaine regulation for recreational use. The anonymous survey closes on August 31, 2025.

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+ ACTION ALERT — SAVE PREVENTATIVE CARE: Tell Congress to protect PrEP and preventive care! Sign to support life-saving health care and our communities here.

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+ USE YOUR VOICE: The DPA has launched its 2025 National Drug Policy Reform Survey, providing an opportunity for communities to help shape drug policy reform. Fill out the survey here.

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+ CONFERENCES AND EVENTS: 

-In case you missed it: The Penington Institute is gearing up for International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), happening August 31, 2025. Learn more about the campaign and how to get involved here.

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-Reminder: The 2025 U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS is happening September 4 through September 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Learn more and register for the event here.

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-Registration for DPA’s Reform Conference happening November 12 through November 15, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan, is now open! Learn more and register here.

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+ NEWS: Black OD Death Rates Are High. They Just Might Get Worse — As named by NHRC Executive Director Laura Guzman in this Word In Black story, "This deadly executive order threatens the safety and civil rights of millions of people with mental health and/or substance use disorders and other people who use drugs, as well as unhoused folks who already face many dangers...What we need to save lives, improve public health, and make entire communities safer is [to] focus on and invest in evidence-based solutions, including housing and health care — not handcuffs and budget cuts."

Link: bit.ly/BlackODRateDisparities


+ NEWS: "An attempt to disappear people": Experts Comment on Trump’s Plans to Defund Harm Reduction — Our communities need and deserve harm reduction, a life-saving set of evidence-backed approaches to ending the overdose epidemic. Overdoses are preventable, and each overdose is a policy failure. We cannot go backward.

"It’s alarming that cities implementing proven, lifesaving interventions could be punished for doing exactly what public health demands — while the federal government pours billions into enforcement and prisons, and slashes funding for healthcare, housing, and mental health services," Director of Federal Affairs at DPA Maritza Perez Medina told TalkingDrugs.

Link: bit.ly/DisappearingMarginalizedPeople


+ NEWS: July is the worst month for drug overdose deaths. Is heat to blame? — Climate change has direct impacts on all people, including people who use drugs. Heat waves and other extreme weather events can exacerbate overdoses and other public health issues, particularly for unhoused folks. People who use drugs face layers of barriers to life-saving care and shelter.

Via The Los Angeles Times: "In theory, public cooling centers should help many — especially the unhoused — avoid the worst effects of increasing heat. But as Moseley and other experts note, many cooling centers probably do not allow in anyone who is obviously on opioids or meth — thus excluding the population most likely to die."

Link: bit.ly/HeatAndODs


+ NEWS: Trump Executive Order Targets Harm Reduction — Harm reduction saves lives. We cannot turn back the clock on life-saving health care programs and services. As the overdose epidemic continues, we must lean further into evidence-backed health measures.

"'If this administration truly seeks to reduce overdose deaths and improve community safety, it must embrace and sustainably fund what public health experts and advocates say works: harm reduction programs, overdose prevention centers and widespread access to voluntary, non-coercive treatment and care,'" this POZ Magazine piece quoting our friends at the Legal Action Center notes.

Link: bit.ly/EOTargetsHarmReduction


+ NEWS: A Harm Reduction Team Amps It Up in Response to a Disaster — Whenever climate disasters strike, you can find harm reductionists doubling down on their mission to save lives, provide health care, and offer up radical love to the community. Beyond immediate life-saving care and health support, harm reduction is about empathy, building trust, and friendships, too.

"Harm reduction is guided, Treadaway says, 'by a fundamental belief that people are inherently worthy of care...I really didn’t believe in or know good people who would show up for me until I got involved in harm reduction,' she says. 'I was not used to friends checking on me.' She was unaccustomed to having someone volunteer 'to sleep on my couch when I was afraid of an ex. I was used to facing things on my own,'" this piece in The Daily Yonder shares.

Link: bit.ly/HarmReductionThroughClimateDisasters



SECTION 2: Emergent and Exciting Work

+ DISABILITY PRIDE AND COMMUNITY CARE: This past Disability Pride Month, NHRC’s Lighthouse Learning Collective created a fact sheet uplifting the intersection of disability justice, COVID-19, and harm reduction. As noted on the fact sheet, "Nearly half of LGBTQI+ folks and about 70% of trans people in the U.S. identify as disabled. And yet, when we talk about health, drug use, or community care, disabled people’s experiences often get left out. The reality is that long COVID is still disabling people every day. Harm reduction isn’t just about drugs. It’s about making sure people survive and thrive. Sometimes that looks like access to syringes, pipes and naloxone. Sometimes it’s masks, free tests, better ventilation, or simply asking: 'Hey, what do disabled folks actually need to feel safe, seen, and supported?'" Check out the fact sheet here.

Link: bit.ly/LLCDJCHR


+ WYOMING FRIENDS, WE WANT YOU: NHRC is thrilled to offer a series of community engagement and train-the-trainer sessions this September in Jackson and Laramie! The community engagement sessions are a welcoming space to learn the basics of harm reduction and connect with like-minded individuals. The Jackson session takes place September 17, 2025, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the Laramie event is happening September 23, 2025 from from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

At the respective two-day train-the-trainer sessions running from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., attendees will develop tools to educate others and strengthen harm reduction in their work and communities. The Jackson train-the-trainer session runs September 17 through September 18, 2025, and the Laramie sessions run September 23 through September 24, 2025. To learn more about the sessions and register, click here.

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+ RESOURCES AND REPORTS:

-NHRC is excited to launch two additional online modules free for NYC residents, LGB/TGNCNB 101 and Stigma 101! These modules are self-paced and take approximately 90 minutes. LGB/TGNCNB 101 is a module that explores health disparities LGB/TGNCNB people who use drugs and engage in sex work face, dispels myths, and provides strategies for affirming care. Stigma 101 is a module that explores stigma's roots, forms, and impact and offers tips to help create change. Learn more about the rest of our NYC online courses here, and see our full online learning center here.

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-NHRC’s partners at the National Health Care for the Homeless Council have shared a fact sheet, "Impact of Civil Commitment Executive Order on the HCH Community." Check it out here.

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-A study published in the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice examined the two-year implementation of Rhode Island’s harm reduction vending machines (HRVMs), which dispensed life-saving tools including naloxone and safer use supplies, as well as these machines’ roles along with harm reduction services. As noted here, "This study underscores that around-the-clock, low-barrier access to supplies is necessary. For jurisdictions looking to expand harm reduction efforts, HRVMs provide a pragmatic, scalable strategy to reach more people, more often, with the tools they need to stay safe."

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-JAMA Network’s investigation, "Decline in US Drug Overdose Deaths by Region, Substance, and Demographics," found that while recorded drug overdose deaths declined over a period of time, "persistent disparities highlight the need for targeted interventions and improved understanding of the underlying drivers."

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-DPA has published "Protecting Federally-Funded Drug Research: An Advocacy Toolkit for Researchers," spotlighting life-saving researchers navigating funding cuts and guidance for how to fight back against these changes.

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-The article "'I still can feel the sickness': Withdrawal experiences of people on methadone maintenance treatment" published by the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment names that, "Participants described withdrawal as a significant issue that negatively impacts their treatment experience and increases the likelihood of treatment cessation. Their accounts of withdrawal were complex and often involved multiple factors; however, feeling underdosed and missing clinic dosing hours were seen as important vectors that led to their withdrawal experiences. Importantly, participants framed feeling underdosed and missing clinic dosing hours as institutional problems, resulting primarily from clinic policies, practices, and culture rather than from patients' decisions or individual behavior."

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-The study "Injection-Related Infections and Self-treatment Practices Among People Who Inject Drugs in Rural Appalachia" published by Oxford Academic takes a look at "self-reported substance use characteristics, bacterial infections, and self-management practices in a cohort of [people who inject drugs] in rural Appalachian Kentucky."

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-Recommendations stemming from a report by the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative of the University of California San Francisco, "Toward Equity: Latine Experiences of Homelessness" include expanding affordable and stable housing options for Latine/Latinx folks in the state, removing barriers that prevent Latine/Latinx Californians from supportive programs, and investing in family-centered services, among several other suggestions.

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-The International Journal of Drug Policy published a study titled, "Attitudes toward and experiences with naloxone among people who use drugs in the Southeastern United States," which examined naloxone use, training and education, distribution, and barriers to the medication.

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-NHRC requests organizations add or update their information on the Naloxone Finder map in an effort to ensure the resource is up-to-date. To add a new program, click here. To update existing program information on the map, please fill out this form. We appreciate your support in spreading the word about these life-saving materials!

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+ FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:

-In The Works is offering scholarships opportunities for folks to attend the DPA Reform Conference in Detroit, Michigan, from November 12 through November 15, 2025. Learn more about the scholarships honoring the legacy of learning and advocacy of beloved late colleagues here. Applications are due by August 31.

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-Reminder: Applications for the Health Care Advocates International (HCAI) Fund are due by September 30, 2025. Learn more and apply here.

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+ TRAININGS AND WEBINARS:

-Join NHRC’s Director of Capacity Building and Community Mobilization, Mike Selick, and LGBTQIA+ Health & Harm Reduction Manager, Taylor Edelmann, for their “Building Trust with Patients” training September 24, 2025, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. The free session will be hosted by Providers Clinical Support System (PCSS) of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Sign up to join here.

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-NHRC is hosting a webinar series specifically designed for California Syringe Services Programs (SSPs). The series covers a range of topics, including compassionate overdose response, California Department of Public Health (CDPH) billing, harm reduction foundations, and CDPH harm reduction supplies distribution. The remaining training, "Can I Bill for That?!" is happening at 12 p.m. PT on October 14. For more information, email [email protected].

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-NHRC is thrilled to continue offering monthly Foundational Fridays training sessions, which focus on building basic knowledge about various intersectional public health issues. The free sessions, running from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET the last Friday of each month, are for providers, peers, and anyone in the harm reduction community as well as anyone looking to learn more about the field. To sign up for tomorrow's session, "Overdose 101," click here. To sign up for the September 26 session, "Outreach 101," click here. Stay tuned for updates about our latest Foundational Fridays series! For more information, contact Jose Martinez at [email protected].

Link:
bit.ly/2025Overdose101
bit.ly/Outreach1012025


-The National Black Harm Reduction Network has posted a recording of its training, "Know Your Supply: A Black Harm Reduction Dialogue." Check it out here.

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If you support emergent and exciting work at National Harm Reduction Coalition, please join our community of monthly donors, the Harm Reduction Champions! Become a Harm Reduction Champion today.

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SECTION 3: Work for the Movement


+ Black Lives Matter (BLM) Paterson is searching for a Harm Reduction Specialist (part-time).

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+ Challenges, Inc. is looking for a Harm Reduction Specialist.

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+ DISH is hiring a Harm Reduction Program Manager.

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+ DPA is seeking a Research Associate.

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+ The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) is searching for a Fundraising Strategy Consultant for its annual "Support. Don’t Punish" campaign.

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+ The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is looking to fill several positions, including:

-Assistant Director of Special Projects and Naloxone Distribution
-Unit Initiatives & Support Coordinator
-Assistant Director of Training Initiatives
-Assistant Director of Data and Technical Assistance
-Unit Initiatives & Support Coordinator
-Operations Manager

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+ OnPoint NYC is hiring for multiple roles, including:

-Certified Medical Assistant

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-Harm Reduction Specialist — Outreach and Public Safety Team (OPST)

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-Harm Reduction Specialist

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-Harm Reduction Specialist — Winnebago

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-MAT Navigator — HUB

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-Naloxone Associate

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-Overdose Prevention Specialist — Consumer Led Model, Washington Heights

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-Overdose Prevention Specialist — Medical Model, East Harlem

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-Part-time Registered Nurse

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-Responsible Person in Charge (RPIC)

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-Site Supervisor — Winnebago

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+ PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) is searching for a Harm Reduction Specialist.

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+ San Francisco AIDS Foundation is hiring a Health Educator.

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Hiring? Send us a note about open positions in harm reduction to [email protected] to have a job post shared here.


National Harm Reduction Coalition
243 Fifth Avenue
Box 529
New York, NY 10016
United States

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