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Harm Reduction in Housing Justice: Values, Policy, and Services
Monday, April 8, 2024 2:00 pm Eastern Time
Cosponsored with Funders Together to End Homelessness
Harm reduction means what it sounds like: reducing the harmful consequences of risky behaviors like substance use. Harm reduction is characterized by a fundamental commitment to preserving human lives and includes a wide variety of interventions, such as syringe exchange or naloxone access. In the homelessness sector, harm reduction also refers to non-punitive, housing-first policies. Shelters may be considered a harm reduction measure because they mitigate the deadliness of unsheltered homelessness. However, shelters are “just” harm reduction, as they fail to address the conditions that lead to homelessness.
Addressing these underlying conditions and recognizing the racialized nature of these inequities is the mission of the housing justice movement and Funders Together’s north star. Does that mean that harm reduction efforts are incompatible with housing justice? This facilitated discussion will explore how harm reduction measures—both shelters and drug-specific policies—fit within the broader values of housing justice and will provide practical guidance for funders working at the intersection of health and housing. Speakers include Melissa Moore of the Drug Policy Alliance and Tanagra M. Melgarejo Pulido of the National Harm Reduction Coalition.