National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) is a national activist and capacity-building organization that opposes what it considers “racialized” drug policies. ¹ NHRC supports of the concept of “harm reduction,” a process of providing services to drug users “where they are” to minimize health and social impacts associated with drug use. ^{2 3}

Known as the Harm Reduction Coalition until 2020, ^{4 5} NHRC has referred to the “war on Drugs” as a “war on people” ⁶ and called to efforts to combat drug use in the United States “racist” ⁷ and “racialized.” ⁸

NHRC operates the California Harm Reduction Initiative, ⁹ a syringe service program (SSP) in California provides sterile syringes and injection equipment to drug users. ¹⁰

History and Leadership

The National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) was founded as the Harm Reduction Coalition in 1993. ¹ In September 2020, the Harm Reduction Coalition rebranded and changed its name to the National Harm Reduction Coalition. ^{4 5}

Laura Guzman is the executive director of NHRC as of 2024. ^{11 12} Prior to becoming executive director in January 2023, she was the organization’s senior director of capacity building and community mobilization. ¹³ From 2001 to 2017, Guzman was the founder and director of the Mission Neighborhood Resource Center, which focused on assisting minority homeless residents in the city of San Francisco. ¹⁴

Activities and Funding

National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) is a national activist and capacity building organization that opposes what it considers “racialized” drug policies. ¹ in support of the concept of “harm reduction,” a process of providing drugs and life services to drug users “where they are” to minimize health and social impacts associated with drug use. ^{2 3}

NHRC’s training, tools, resources, and networking extends to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. In 2022, NHRC claimed to have provided direct support to drug users in 40 states and Puerto Rico. ⁶ NHRC runs local syringe access programs through the North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN). It also runs a national naloxone (the generic name of Narcan, the opioid overdose-reversal drug) finder, ⁸ promotes mail-based naloxone distribution through Next Distro, ^{15 16} and conducts training to help reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. ^{17 18 19}

NHRC calls itself a “movement for compassion, justice, and equity.” It has referred to the “war on Drugs” as a “war on people” ⁶ and called to efforts to combat drug use in the United States as “racist” ⁷ and “racialized.” ⁸ At the time of its founding, NHRC advocated against what it claimed was government negligence and abandonment that left drug users vulnerable to the AIDS pandemic. ¹

In 2021, NHRC wrote a letter that was co-signed by similar organizations like the Harm Reduction Action Center (HRAC)  that claimed to oppose “enforcement-first, criminalization approach to drug policy” and alleged that the criminalization of drugs has made the United States the “greatest incarcerator in the world.” ²⁰

NHRC operates the California Harm Reduction Initiative, ⁹ a syringe service program (SSP) in California provides sterile syringes and injection equipment to drug users. ¹⁰ This program worked with at least 66,000 individuals through 34 grantees in 2022. ⁶ In 2019, CHRI received $15.2 million dollars to strengthen substance use disorder by staffing and infrastructure at syringe services programs. ^{21 6}

NHRC also links visitors to its website to training modules for safer use of illegal drugs, “Stimulants 101”, and “wound care” in New York City. ²²

Grantmaking

National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) has funded at least $5.3 million of projects through grants to 32 different organizations in the Appalachian region through the HepConnect Initiative. Grantees use funding to expand harm reduction services, advocate for harm reduction, and support drug users. According to NHRC, this is the largest portfolio of non-governmental harm reduction funding. In the United States. ²³

NHRC grantees have included Aliveness Project, Imani & Unidad, Indiana Recovery Alliance, the Never Alone Project, Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition, Center for Prevention Services, North Carolina Harm Reduction, North Carolina AIDS Action Network, Tennessee Recovery Alliance, WeCare Tennessee, Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition, and others. ²⁴

In 2019, Harm Reduction Coalition grantees included 44 organizations in Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. ²⁵

U.S. Government Funding

National Harm Reduction Center (NHRC) has received U.S. government grants to support its work. In 2022, NHRC received $708,000 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a part of the National Expansion of Syringe Service Providers Technical Assistance (NEST) grant program. NHRC also received $850,000 from the CDC for the NEST program in 2021 and 2020. ²⁶

Non-Government Funding

National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) receives most of its funding from individual contributions and grants. ⁶ In 2022, HRC reported revenue of $12,817,781 and expenses of $13,022,356. HRC reported revenue of $10,197,206 and expenses of $17,894,876. ²⁷

In 2023, HRC received $351,000 from Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, $75,000 from the San Francisco Foundation, $70,510 from the Indiana Recovery Alliance, and $10,126 from the American Online Giving Foundation. ²⁸

The organization has also received financial support from the left-of-center New Venture Fund, ²⁹ Raymond James Charitable Fund, ³⁰ the Tides Foundation, ³¹ Transformative Justice Initiative, ³² William G. Nash Foundation, ³³ R Street Institute, ³⁴ and others. ³⁵

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2. “What is Harm Reduction?” Harm Reduction International. Accessed December 15, 2024. https://hri.global/what-is-harm-reduction/.
3. “Harm Reduction.” Recovery Research Institute. Accessed December 15, 2024. https://www.recoveryanswers.org/resource/drug-and-alcohol-harm-reduction/.
4. “We are National Harm Reduction Coalition.” National Harm Reduction Coalition YouTube. Uploaded September 1, 2020. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWlTaCnbfWY.
5. “Facebook Post.” National Harm Reduction Coalition Facebook Page. Posted September 1, 2020. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/HarmReductionCoalition/posts/harm-reduction-coalition-began-as-a-grassroots-working-group-25-years-ago-and-to/3253865224695294/.
6. “Give.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. Accessed December 10, 2024. https://give.harmreduction.org/.
7. “We are National Harm Reduction Coalition.” National Harm Reduction Coalition YouTube Channel. Uploaded September 1, 2020. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWlTaCnbfWY.
8.  “Find Harm Reduction Resources Near You.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://harmreduction.org/resource-center/harm-reduction-near-you/.
9. “California Harm Reduction Initiative.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. Accessed December 15, 2024. https://harmreduction.org/our-work/action/california-harm-reduction-initiative-chri/.
10. “Syringe Services Programs.” Centers for Disease Control. Accessed December 15, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/syringe-services-programs/php/index.html#cdc_program_profile_overview-what-it-is.
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13. “Laura Guzman.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed December 10, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-guzman-42a6901bb/.
14. “NHRC Officially Names Laura Guzman Executive Director.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. August 31, 2023. Accessed December 10, 2024. https://harmreduction.org/blog/nhrc-officially-names-laura-guzman-executive-director/.
15. “Home.” NASEN. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://nasen.org/.
16. “Home.” NEXT Distro. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://nextdistro.org/naloxone.
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19. “Training & Capacity Building.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://harmreduction.org/our-work/training-capacity-building/.
20. Saleh, Mazen. “National Harm Reduction Coalition Letter on Legislation to Reduce Record Number of Overdose Deaths.” R Street. December 1, 2021. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://www.rstreet.org/outreach/national-harm-reduction-coalition-letter-on-legislation-to-reduce-record-number-of-overdose-deaths/.
21. “California Regional Initiatives.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://harmreduction.org/our-work/action/california/.
22. “New York City Initiatives.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://harmreduction.org/our-work/action/nyc/.
23. “HelpConnect: From Project Launch to Grant Awards.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://harmreduction.org/issues/hepatitis-c/hepconnect-initiative-report/outcome/.
24. HepConnect.” National Harm Reduction Coalition. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://harmreduction.org/our-work/action/hepconnect/.
25. “Meet the Harm Reduction Coalition Grantees.” HelpConnect. 2019. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://www.hepconnect.com/2019-grantee-profiles.
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