November 15, 2020

National Harm Reduction Coalition creates spaces for dialogue and action that help heal the harms caused by racialized drug policies.

+ TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES: Our new website is full of tools! Our resource center contains categorized resources for harm reduction programs and people who use drugs, our Learning Lab offers on-demand interactive e-learning, and our up-to-date training calendar is full of free webinars to sign up for through the end of the year!

+ NEWS: ‘I listen to the people’: the Moms 4 Housing advocate bringing activism to Oakland city council — "Carroll Fife made headlines in the US last year as the radical architect behind Moms 4 Housing, a group of homeless mothers who bonded to commandeer a vacant home in Oakland, California, and put a face to the state’s housing and homelessness crisis.

Now, the vocal advocate for tenants’ rights is entering a new chapter in her activism. Fife won a seat on Oakland’s city council in last week’s election, beating a two-term incumbent."

+ BLOG: This Election Was Never Going to Save Us — Read a note from NHRC Executive Director Monique Tula on how we can continue to keep ourselves safe now that Joe Biden has won.

Also see a quote from our Interim Director of Policy and Advocacy, Michelle Wright, on next steps in our work for the movement:

+ ESSAY: Prisons Are a Public Health Crisis — and the Cure Is Right in Front of Us —This article by noted author Kenyon Farrow is part of Abolition for the People, a series brought to you by a partnership between Kaepernick Publishing and LEVEL, a Medium publication for and about the lives of Black and Brown men. The series, which comprises 30 essays and conversations over four weeks, points to the crucial conclusion that policing and prisons are not solutions for the issues and people the state deems social problems — and calls for a future that puts justice and the needs of the community first.

+ RESEARCH: Unmasked: Impacts of Pandemic Policing — Communities are fighting for a world where we keep ourselves and each other safe, without surveillance, policing, or punishment. This toolkit offers tools and resources for individuals and communities to stay safe and to mobilize for what we need.

+ ICYMI: United We Rise Instagram Takeover — If you aren’t following us on Insta, you missed a takeover by United We Rise, helping us envision a new path that ends the HIV epidemic for Every(Black)Body! Follow them on Instagram to interact with their work!

+ SPIRIT OF HARM REDUCTION TOOLKIT: In this new resource, explore ways to frame the intersections between faith and harm reduction, spiritual and ritual resources for harm reductionists and accomplices, personal narratives, sermons, poetry, and more from people who use drugs, people who do sex work, faith leaders, and other harm reductionists, concrete ways for faith communities to embody radical hospitality with people who use drugs and people who do sex work

Visit our calendar to RSVP for events and virtual discussions to support this emergent work and we will share more information about that here and you can subscribe for email updates at https://bit.ly/faithinharmred

+ HARM REDUCTION FUTURES: Harm reductionists are known for responsive work — creating safety where there isn’t enough, responding to harm and violence, redistributing resources, and sharing struggle. Surviving a system hostile toward people who use drugs is a daily grind. We don’t get much shared space to dream of a future on our terms.

Harm Reduction Futures is about creating and holding that space together. We want to honor afro-futurist traditions of dreaming of futures free from oppression and imagine a future rooted in the principles of harm reduction — beyond surviving the racist drug war, toxic drug supply, and stigma toward people who use drugs. Share your dreams for the future at: https://bit.ly/HarmRedFutures, or on social media using #HarmRedFutures. 

+ HEPCONNECT TIME CAPSULE: It's been a minute since we've caught up with the #HepConnect grantees, but they've been busy adapting and shifting work to meet people where they are in this global pandemic!

Fortunately, we're capturing this unique moment with a video time capsule in collaboration with Dork Media. Check out a sneak peek of Thomas Gooch with Nashville Street Works below, and look out for the full video time capsule in the future!

+ OPERATIONS AND HR COORDINATOR: National Harm Reduction Coalition is seeking an energetic, detail-oriented self-starter to support operations and human resources initiatives. The ideal candidate is an individual who enjoys being part of a team and can also work well independently. The workflow for this position is fast-paced and requires someone who can effectively prioritize and be responsive to emergent issues. Successful candidates are patient, can communicate clearly, maintain a positive attitude in demanding environments, and maintain confidentiality.