CARRY NALOXONE.

We love you. Be safe.

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STERILE SUPPLIES

EDUCATION

TESTING & TREATMENT

SOCIAL SERVICES

How We Help

The VHRC offers comprehensive harm-reduction services. We address health inequities faced by people who use drugs (PWUD) by providing safer-use supplies and social services, advocating for health policies that address their specific needs and collaborating with other agencies to deliver public health services.

No one in our community is disposable. Traditional policies and approaches to substance use have isolated, stigmatized, and criminalized people we love. The result is poorer health outcomes for marginalized populations in our community and our country. It’s time for a new approach that places value on the individual and focuses on support instead of punishment.

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ABOUT

Who We Are

The Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition (VHRC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, peer-run organization whose mission is to improve the health of the drug-using community we serve by advocating for, developing, and implementing evidence-based solutions to address the adverse effects of drug use.

Meet Our Staff

19,656

NALOXONE DOSES
DISTRIBUTED

The VHRC distributed 19,656 doses, including both nasal and intramuscular forms, in 2024—increasing from 11,958 doses distributed in 2023. This indicates a greater reliance on naloxone by the community, likely a response to higher overdose risks and greater awareness of its life-saving potential.

1,494

OVERDOSES
REVERSED

VHRC participants reported responding to 1,494 overdoses in 2024, compared to 1,084 in 2023. Education, awareness, and access to naloxone increase people’s responsiveness to overdoses, saving countless lives.

161,040

SYRINGES
SAFELY DISPOSED

During 2024, the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition collected and disposed of 161,040 used syringes, compared to 113,302 in 2023. This sharp increase suggests a growing need for harm-reduction services and safe syringe disposal services in the Roanoke area.

Misti, participant

The Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition has successfully changed my life. I had been homeless and hopeless in Roanoke for five years when I came into the Coalition and got signed up to get clean needles, as I’m a heroin addict.

Two years later, my patient advocate has gotten me food stamps, Medicaid, my state ID, my social security card, my birth certificate, all three stimulus checks, and my pandemic unemployment checks. I've received my COVID, hep A, and hep B shots, and I am starting my medication for hep C in my new apartment through The ARCH program. Now, I am officially off the homeless list, all thanks to the VHRC. I could never repay this love, care, and kindness.