What’s a harm reduction hedgehog?
Our co-founder, Jess Tilley’s harm reduction practice is entering its third decade. She is well known throughout the harm reduction world for her dedication and work.
She is also known for raising hedgehogs.
She says,“Hedgehogs are all prickly on the outside but soft and gushy underneath and they have four little feet, like boots to the ground…kind of like harm reductionists.”
As a harm reductionist, co-founder Albie’s Park’s prickly side rolls his eyes and asks her, “Seriously?” But his soft, gushy side has to admit she’s right.
And that’s how we became hedgehogs. The 413 is the area code for Western MA.
Prickly on the outside and soft and gushy underneath with four little feet like boots to the ground….
Jess Tilley
co-founder
Jess is a seasoned harm reduction leader with nearly 30 years of experience as a practitioner, advocate, and organizer. As Executive Director of the New England Users Union (NEUU), a globally respected trainer, and a sought-after consultant, she is dedicated to ending the racist and classist war on people who use drugs.
In 2012, Jess co-founded HRH413 after leaving her role as Overdose Prevention Coordinator at the Cambridge Needle Exchange, guided by a primary aim to better serve Black and Brown communities who use drugs and/or trade sex— many of whom are distrustful of standard fixed-site syringe service programs.
Albie park
co-founder
Albie Park was one of the original counselors of The Stonewall Project, founded by Michael Siever and one of the first outpatient harm reduction treatment programs in San Francisco. Trained as a social worker, he has over 20 years experience in harm reduction. His Master’s culminating project from San Francisco State examined existing recovery self-help/mutual aid groups (the vast majority of which are abstinence only) with the goal of creating a harm reduction group for gay men who used speed (At the time this was the focus population of The Stonewall Project). Before he could put the plan into action he began traveling with his husband eventually landing in Western MA. He and Jess revived the idea of a harm reduction group within a few months of working together. After some trial and error, his project became Harm Reduction Works-HRW, a fully scripted, replicable, harm reduction self-help/mutual aid group. Harm Reduction Works-HRW is a project of HRH413, founded in Northampton, MA in March of 2019, and launched nationally at the Drug Policy Alliance later that year.
Listen to HRH413 on narcotica
Jess and Albie were interviewed for Narcotica Podcast in spring of 2019. Here they talk about how they met, drug user organizing, bridging the gap between harm reduction and 12-step/abstinence only programs and the fledgling Harm Reduction Works.
HRW had been meeting for just over two months at the time of the interview.