African American Capacity Building Initiative The African-American Capacity Building Initiative (AACBI) provides capacity building assistance (CBA) to CDC-funded community based organizations (CBO) and health departments (HD) in the United States, that target African Americans. AACBI staff are the national master trainers for two of the current diffusion of effective behavioral interventions (DEBIs): Safety Counts and VOICES/VOCES. AACBI's capacity building assistance activities include information and technology transfer, technical assistance, technical consultation and skills-building activities.
Brick Rebuilding Project This initiative started in the fall of 2007 as the Harm Reduction Coalition's youth centered initiative. Currently the project plays a role in research and education using harm reduction based strategies to serve youth at-risk for substance abuse and HIV/AIDS. Click here for the project's focus group summary being used to create the agency's first prevention intervention to be piloted in Newark, NJ in the Spring of 2008.
Hepatitis C Harm Reduction Project The Hepatitis C Harm Reduction Project provides hepatitis C capacity building services to New York City's syringe exchange programs. We develop and implement model hepatitis C programs, including support and education groups, hepatitis C counseling and testing, and hepatitis A and B vaccinations. Project Staff also work with healthcare providers to increase access to medical care, psychiatric treatment, and drug treatment for syringe exchange participants living with hepatitis C. This program was funded by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH).
Harm Reduction Training Institute The Harm Reduction Training Institute (HRTI) provides regular quarterly series of skills building training and education both in New York and Oakland, CA, to providers working with drug using populations. The Harm Reduction Training Institute (HRTI) provides trainings, in-services, and workshops on a variety of harm reduction issues to service providers and the general public throughout the United States. The Institute also provides some consulting and technical assistance functions to organizations serving drug users and communities affected by drug-related harm.
Since 2002, the NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute (NYS DOH-AI) has designated HRTI as a Center of Expertise and has funded it to provide statewide training and education on harm reduction. The Harm Reduction Training Institute is the first national training center focused exclusively on harm reduction.
Policy Department The Harm Reduction Coalition's Policy Director advocates for harm reduction approaches to improve the health of drug users and their communities. The Policy Department seeks to create change on the local, state, national, and international levels through a range of strategies including direct advocacy with policy makers, policy analysis, education, and coalition-building.
Syringe Access Expansion Project The Syringe Access Expansion Project (SAEP) was introduced in 2005 to work with the IDU Health Alliance (IDUHA), community-based organizations, the New York City Department Health and Mental Hygiene and New York State AIDS Institute to stimulate and support the expansion of syringe access to injection drug users through needle exchange and Expanded Syringe Access Provider (ESAP). The SAEP aims to increase the availability of sterile syringes by assisting community-based organizations in implementing syringe exchange and ESAP programs through a combination of outreach, needs assessment, education and training, and technical assistance.
Opiate Overdose Prevention Projects HRC West's Drug Overdose Prevention & Education Project (DOPE) provides overdose education in shelter, jails, treatment programs, and SRO hotels. DOPE collaborates with the San Francisco Department of Public Health to implement an innovative naloxone distribution program at needle exchange sites throughout the city. DOPE also provides advocacy and capacity-building to programs looking to incorporate Opiate Overdose Prevention Programming throughout California.
HRC East's Skills and Knowledge on Overdose Prevention program (SKOOP) is also funded by NYC DOHMH to train heroin users and their associates to utilize naloxone kits and to provide introductions to overdose prevention, training of trainers and technical assistance for staff of local CBOs. NYC DOHMH recently contracted the SKOOP staff to address the gap in prescribing buprenorphine by developing and implementing an expansive training curriculum for health care providers.
California Syringe Exchange Technical Assistance Project Formed in 2006, The California Syringe Access Project provides statewide assistance to syringe exchange programs, local health jurisdictions and communities dealing with issues related to syringe exchange. With funding from the California State Office of AIDS, the Project works to expand the capacity of California's 40 syringe exchange programs to better serve the health needs of injection drug users across the state. We encourage local communities, health jurisdictions and community-based agencies to initiate syringe access programs in counties where none exist.
National Conferences HRC sponsors and organizes regional conferences and, bi-annually, the only national harm reduction conference in the United States. HRC conferences provide a critical and unique forum for the exploration and development of harm reduction practice, theory, and policy, and serve as crucial networking mechanisms for individuals working in harm reduction.
Coalition Building HRC seeks to build coalitions with other national and local organizations committed to progressive social change. On alternate years, HRC also organizes conferences that focus on key public health issues and target geographic region, discipline and specific populations.
Resources & Publications HRC provides state-of-the-art information on methods for reducing drug related harm, and current information on regional and national activities, through brochures, manuals, bulletins and the Internet.
