Treating every person – regardless of their circumstance or condition, with dignity and respect.
Defining Harm Reduction
Harm Reduction emphasizes tolerance, respect for the personal choices of others, and respect for human rights. It favors evidence over anecdote, courage over cowardice, and doing what is right even if it seems to send the “wrong message.” It means doing what has to be done to protect public health in the face of opposition from all quarters because it is the right thing to do.
Our Mission
Encourage and motivate the implementation of harm reduction interventions, public health strategies, drug policy transformation, and criminal justice reform in North Carolina through leadership, advocacy, resource, policy development, and education.
Our Vision
The key to bringing people who use drugs, do sex work, or have a history of incarceration closer to disease prevention, health services, and reduced recidivism is to treat every person, regardless of their circumstance or condition, with dignity and respect. Our nonjudgmental approach allows our participants to move through a process of self-discovery and self-empowerment at their own pace (this is based on the behavioral theory “stages of change”). By developing relationships based on honesty, community, tolerance, and cooperation, our staff and volunteers help people live healthier and more fulfilling lives while raising the health and safety index of the community.
If it hadn’t been for the people I’ve met through harm reduction, I don’t know where I would be in life right now. I felt alone, I would beat myself up about the mistakes I’d made, and I didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. NCHRC has turned into my family and I wouldn’t be here without them.
– Anonymous
NC Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC) is a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to implementing harm reduction interventions, public health strategies, drug policy transformation, and justice reform in North Carolina. NC Harm Reduction Coalition engages in grassroots advocacy, resource and policy development, coalition building, and direct services for people impacted by drug use, incarceration, sex work, overdose, gender, HIV and hepatitis, and first responders.
“NCHRC has a huge amount of knowledge, expertise, and professionalism. I feel like NCHRC is a long-term partner.”
James “Tripp” Winslow, MD, North Carolina Director of the State Emergency Medical Services