September 15, 2021

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

+ ARTICLE : Hear from West Oakland Punks with Lunch, The HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County, NHRC's Savannah O'Neill, and more in this Street Spirit exploration into Bay Area, California harm reduction, overdose response, and visions for collective futures. Read the article here.

+ TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE:  Late Summer Technical Assistance continues! Check out the full offerings and register here. Late Summer Technical Assistance is a series of virtual technical assistance sessions for harm reduction programs. The series will run through the end of September and include a range of large-group webinars, smaller group discussion sessions and 1-1 sessions for individual programs focused on a range of organizational development topics. 

+ SEX WORKER PRIDE DAY: Yesterday was Sex Worker Pride Day! Read more about the history of the day here. Image below by Katy Beltran, shared by SisterLove. Check out this podcast by Narcotica on the intersections of drug use and sex work, featuring Tamika Spellman from HIPS and Caty Simon from Urban Survivors Union.

+ WEBINAR: Join NASTAD and partners for a webinar on Wednesday, September 22, 4:30-6pm ET to discuss how changes to the U.S. drug supply during the COVID-19 pandemic are affecting the health and safety of users, and the programmatic responses by harm reduction and public health organizations. RSVP here.

+ TOOLKIT: Are you a young person interacting with non profits? Do you work with young people as a social worker, youth worker, health care provider and don't want to fuel the prison pipeline? Check out this new Project NIA toolkit addressing institutional violence in nonprofit orgs, “Whose Security is it Anyway?”

+ COURSE : Looking to better understand the Medical Industrial Complex and how to transform it? Check out Health Justice Commons' 6-week course Health Justice Commons' Fall Course: Understanding and Transforming the MIC starting September 23rd. 

+ ICYMI:  Don’t miss our recording of last week’s panel, facilitated by National Harm Reduction Coalition medical director Dr. Kim Sue, discussing Maia Szalavitz’s new book, Undoing Drugs, and exploring the past, present, and future of harm reduction Panelists include Monique Tula, Sessi Blanchard, and Maia Szalavitz. Watch the recording here. Learn more about Undoing Drugs here.

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

+ SAVE THE DATE:  National Harm Reduction Coalition presents it’s inaugural fundraising gala: Liberation + Libations, taking place on November 20, 2021  at 8:00 - 9:30 PM EST, this virtual event is being held to support the national ongoing work of preventing overdoses and developing, amplifying and celebrating the voices of people who use drugs.

Attendees of the Liberation + Libations gala will hear from several voices in the harm reduction community — and will be treated to music, a silent auction, and performances/art by community members. We will also have guest appearances and speeches from harm reductionists around the nation. Most importantly, this will be a time to celebrate our community. We will be giving “community choice awards” to harm reduction programs and we would love for you to nominate your favorite Harm Reduction Program to be honored.

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