Model and Strategy
"The stigma that surrounds drug use often forces people who use drugs into social isolation and deprives them access to vital resources and relationships. During what some call the defining crisis of our time, harm reduction resources that prevent fatal overdose must be easier to obtain. Perhaps even more important, people who use drugs must have ways to connect with positive social networks and develop a sense of purpose and connection.
Building on our successful San Francisco-based, community-driven public awareness campaign about overdose prevention, Safer Together is a national initiative where people with lived experience come together to create culturally relevant, evidence-based, life saving resources that are easily accessible online. While we're waiting for government officials to lift sanctions that prevent bringing harm reduction programs to scale, Safer Together levels the playing field by providing access to life-saving information to people in areas of the country with no resources for hundreds of miles."
Impact
"Scaling up traditional brick and mortar programs isn't happening fast enough. People who use drugs and the broader community are searching for more convenient, discreet ways to stay safe and the internet is an efficient way to share practical harm reduction tips and resources developed by and for people with lived experience. Safer Together helps fill the void in three ways:
1. Building a sense of purpose and place among people with lived experience of substance use. People who are often marginalized and excluded from employment because of substance use or criminalization will be fairly compensated to serve on a national advisory panel that will guide the project and create and elevate harm reduction tips and resources among their peers and the broader community while developing discrete resuming building skills.
2. Responding to rising demand. As demand for solutions to the national overdose crisis increase, digitizing and updating existing content just makes good sense. A digital transformation of the most comprehensive harm reduction library in the U.S. will greatly improve accessibility for all people — including people with visual or reading impairments and people who do not speak English and rely on digital translation.
3. Improving access to critical overdose prevention messaging and promotional resources. Overdose is the leading cause of death for people in the U.S. under 50 years old. The Safer Together social marketing campaign and overdose starter kit will include critical messaging and resources for people looking for community-based responses to escalating SUDs and fatal overdoses."
Leadership
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Monique Tula
Executive Director
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Taeko Frost
Senior Director of Strategy & Innovation