OUR MOVEMENT IN MOTION
January 31, 2023


SECTION 1: News and Announcements

Image of Laura Guzman on rainbow gradient background with text at left reading, "Meet our acting executive director, Laura Guzman!"

Dear friend,

I am honored to continue my service with the National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) as acting executive director! I have transitioned to this role after serving for three years as NHRC’s senior capacity building and community mobilization director, leading our fabulous San Francisco and California team and work. Initially, I became one of the first West Coast trainers for NHRC (then called HRC, or Harm Reduction Coalition) from 1999-2012 and continue that work to this day.

My harm reduction passion blossomed 28 years ago at the Ambassador Hotel in San Francisco, where I worked as an outreach benefits counselor. The majority of the hotel’s 150 residents were people dying of AIDS who would have otherwise died on the streets as a result of government inaction and neglect. Our team managed the privately-owned SRO (Single Room Occupancy) and offered nursing, medical, social work, and palliative care support despite not being funded. People Living with AIDS (PLWA), People Who Inject Drugs (PWID), nurses, social workers, Black and Brown folks, lesbians, trans folks, and other queer-identified people were my early mentors. They organized and were determined to fight for housing, access to treatment, and resources for those most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS – and offered mutual aid and support to people who use drugs (PWUD) so they could die with dignity. This work was crucial given this country's colonial history designed to keep Black, Brown, and Indigenous people and other poor folks at the margins.

I also served as the founder and director of the Mission Neighborhood Resource Center (MNRC) for 16 years, one of the first harm reduction drop-in centers focusing on Brown and Black unhoused communities and SRO residents in the district. We inspired many to join us in our community model of healing, interdisciplinary services, and advocacy on behalf of – and with – people who use drugs, immigrants, trans and cis women, sex workers, and queer folks. Harm reduction was one of our key values and mantra for all our services.  

Harm reduction has been and continues to be about saving lives, showing love to people and each other, and fighting for our people’s liberation. Although I firmly believe harm reduction practices truly work (through three decades of personal and professional experience), I am most proud of NHRC’s roots and history of activism and organizing by rebeldes – rebels. They did not ask permission to distribute needles or naloxone when this was illegal, and helped people who use opiates to get well to survive hours of waiting at the emergency room to receive treatment for an abscess or untreated pneumonia. 

As we celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the founding of the NHRC, I feel privileged and challenged to be invited to lead us into this new chapter of our herstory and commit to keeping our rebelde roots while re-envisioning our people-driven, movement-driven, and values-driven organization and work toward supporting a broader anti-colonial, social justice, and human rights-focused harm reduction movement led by people who use drugs. I, and we, welcome your insights and your energy. Join us.

Hasta la victoria siempre.

Image: Photo of Dr. Carmen Landau, looking forward and smiling at camera, wearing sun hat

REMEMBERING AND HONORING DR. CARMEN LANDAU: As we start this new year, we wanted to take time following a period of mourning with family, friends, and community to pay a special tribute to our friend and colleague Dr. Carmen Landau, who passed away while supporting our conference in October. As part of this tribute, we would like to also uplift the fundraising efforts to continue her work and legacy. 

Carmen was an activist who brought much needed change to our world. She did her medical training in Cuba while simultaneously learning Spanish, an early sign of the determination and dedication she showed in her work, and she always performed her work with kindness and diligence – whether doing wound care for people who use drugs out of the back of a van or providing reproductive health and abortion care in the clinic.

Those of us who had the honor of sharing space with Carmen knew our lives were changed from the first moment we met her. Carmen’s presence, spirit, and energy touched everyone around her. She unapologetically embodied the principles of harm reduction in her life and practice – the beauty and messiness of it all. 

For many, including our community, her loss is profound and difficult to bear. Our grief runs deep and is constant in our hearts and minds – and yet, remembering Carmen’s life and work is a gift that brings joy, reminding us to always approach our world with compassion and integrity. Her legacy asks us to always lead with our hearts by being courageous and bold despite the unknown and to fight for justice and dignity for all.

Carmen, we love you and thank you for showing us how to be brave in the face of fear and steadfast when confronted with injustice without relinquishing humor, grace, tenderness, or our humanity.

A MESSAGE FROM VALLEY ABORTION GROUP, TO ALL WHO LOVED AND ADMIRED CARMEN:

For those of us providing abortion care, this past year has been particularly hard. Not only have we lost our beloved friend and colleague, but Roe has been overturned, leading to abortion bans in 12 states and impending restrictions in many others. Abortion bans result in delays for patients seeking care, increasing the need for abortion care later in pregnancy. The few clinics that offer this service have become so busy that patients may have to wait 3-4 weeks for an appointment. Additionally, the clinic in New Mexico where Carmen previously worked, and the only clinic in the Southwest offering third trimester abortions, has just paused this care indefinitely. Before her death, Carmen was working intently on opening a new clinic – Valley Abortion Group – to address this growing need. 

What was a crisis has now become a dire emergency. For that reason, Valley Abortion Group is stepping up! We are a Women of Color-led group of local providers who have worked together as a team for years. We are committed to carrying out Carmen’s vision of compassionate and equitable care for both patients and staff. 

Help make Carmen’s vision of abortion care a reality! To wire a donation to the Valley Abortion Group bank account or to send a donation by check, please contact Dr. Emily Cohen at: [email protected]. For tax-deductible contributions: Donate through our fiscal sponsor, Center of Southwest Culture. You must write “Valley Abortion Group” in the comments when you donate through this link.

With gratitude,

Andrea, Brenda, Carla, Emily, Jazlyn, Shelley, and Teresa

Valley Abortion Group

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SECTION 2: Emergent and Exciting Work

LIGHTHOUSE LEARNING COLLECTIVE: Lighthouse Learning Collective developed an 8-session LGBTQIA+ harm reduction training series titled "Lighthouse Learning Series." The virtual series is for harm reduction providers in NYC who would like to build on their harm reduction knowledge to provide better services to LGBTQIA+ folks. The sessions, running from January through April, focus on topics that range from sex work to sexual and reproductive health, disability justice, chemsex, and more. For more information, click here.

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SECTION 3: The Policy Plug

LEGISLATION: We are proud to see harm reduction policy move forward in several states including Texas, Mississippi, and Nebraska! 

POLICY TEAM EXPANDS: We would also like to welcome Dewayne Murrell and Tyler Cunning to NHRC's policy team, where they will be focused on harm reduction policy in several states.

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

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