history
The Texas Harm Reduction Alliance (THRA) emerged in early 2019 in response to unprecedented opioid overdose rates and apparent statewide need for harm reduction policy advocacy, education, and capacity-building for direct services with people impacted by substance use, overdose, HIV, hepatitis, and sex work.
THRA is a resource for all community sectors and organizations seeking evidence-informed pathways to improvement of conditions and outcomes related to drug use and related activity. We operate a mobile direct services program in the Austin area (Austin OPS) that provides overdose prevention education, naloxone, and linkage to same-day medicine-based treatment for opioid use disorders.
THRA works on the ground with people across the spectrum of drug use to end the War on Drugs and its harms with nonjudgmental and radical harm reduction services, advocacy, education and training.
mission
VISION
We envision a world in which we are liberated from the War on Drugs, where people who use drugs can live and thrive with community, dignity and self-determination.
values
PWUD-Centered
(Nothing About Us Without Us)
People who use drugs and other groups affected by the drug war (sex workers, incarcerated/formerly incarcerated folks) are the experts in our own relationship to drugs, systems of harm, and also systems of care. We believe in supporting bodily autonomy, quality of life, person-centered nonjudgmental care, and safe spaces to build trust with each other.
Abolition
We believe in the abolition of systems of punishment (prisons, police, and the capital built from prison slave labor, ICE, coercive rehabilitation, etc). These systems fuel white supremacy, anti-immigrant sentiment and policies, and capitalism. We can not end the drug war without an abolitionist framework and a deconstruction of our relationship to punishment.
Community
The history of harm reduction was built on community in response to public health crises to keep each other alive. We believe in a holistic approach to harm reduction that addresses the material, emotional, and spiritual needs of those affected by the drug war.
Sustainability
We believe that in order to achieve the goals of harm reduction we must build our services to be viable, enduring, and reliable. We can achieve this through consistency, coalition building, and respecting each other's capacity. This means checking in with each other and ourselves while also building up future generations of harm reductionists.
Inclusivity
We believe and value people who have been left out of the system such as two-spirit and lgbtq+ communities, BIPOC, immigrants, sex workers, people with disabilities, etc. We seek to build a space where the experiences of these groups are honored, accessibility is centered, and the barriers to the care of these groups are removed. We believe in the importance of having a staff that represents these populations and seeks to celebrate our differences.
Joy
Joy is an act of resistance in a country that is constantly trying to steal it from us. Though our work and the issues our participants face are hard, we do not have to be. We believe in pursuing purpose and meaning while honoring each other’s personhood. We seek to build a space for our staff and participants to witness beauty, laugh, and be held in community.
board of directors
CHAIR
Katy Dyer
CO-CHAIR
Jorge Renaud
MEMBERS
Cara Dahlhausen
Amanda Lewis
Snehal Patel
Nirel Jones Smith
want to get involved?
THRA seeks to grow our board and committees membership with an eye for lived experience of harms and resilience in the current environment of drug and health policy. We also seek experts in the legal, criminal justice, health systems, and legislative realms of service to advise or join our leadership to further our mission.
Interested?
Email us at info@harmreductionTX.org