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 has well over 20 years experience as a harm reduction practitioner, advocate, and organizer and is the Executive Director of NEUU (The New England Users Union). Respected by the harm reduction community world wide, she is in high demand as a trainer and consultant. She moved to Western MA in 2012 after leaving her position as Overdose Prevention Coordinator/Site Manager of the Cambridge Needle Exchange at AIDS Action Coalition. Despite the existence of fixed syringe access programs in Western MA, she is keenly aware of underserved and unserved populations of drug users specifically marginally housed and homeless youth, sex workers and Latino and African American communities, many of whom are distrustful of institutionalized health care.
She is passionate about harm reduction and focused on growing the movement and raising the voices of marginalized people.
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 and was founded in Northampton, MA in March of 2019. A national launch is planned for the Drug Policy Alliance conference November 7, 2019.
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.