Funding Focused on Harm Reduction for Individuals Living with Substance Use Disorder
BOSTON (Jan. 12, 2022) – RIZE Massachusetts, an independent nonprofit foundation working to end the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts, announced today that it has awarded “frontline” grants to 17 organizations to support harm reduction efforts for people living with substance use disorder across Massachusetts.
Grants totaling just over $75,000 will cover the costs of harm reduction supplies including approximately 650 hygiene kits, 80,000 clean syringes, 1,000 safer smoking kits and 5,000 fentanyl test strips. These tools will help lower the risk of overdose deaths and prevent the spread of disease. This new funding will also address frontline worker wellness, including staff training. The grants range from $2,000 to $5,000 and are based on the size and requests of the provider.
“As the opioid crisis continues, community-based providers are responding to increasing demand for services and they need all of the resources they can get,” said Julie Burns, President and CEO of RIZE Massachusetts. “These frontline grants, and the supplies and trainings they pay for, will help harm reductionists across Massachusetts save lives this winter.”
RIZE is awarding grants to the following organizations:
- AIDS Project Worcester
- AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (Barnstable)
- Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
- BAMSI (Brockton)
- Brockton Neighborhood Health Center
- City of Everett
- HRH413 (Northampton)
- Lynn Community Health Center
- MA Organization for Addiction Recovery (Boston)
- Montachusett Recovery Club (Leominster)
- Plymouth County Outreach (Plymouth)
- Restoration Recovery Center (Fitchburg)
- Road to Care at UMass Memorial Medical Center (Worcester)
- Rosie’s Place (Boston)
- SSTAR (Fall River)
- Tapestry Health Systems (Springfield)
- Victory Programs (Boston)
This funding is in addition to some $820,000 in rapid response grants that RIZE has distributed since the start of COVID-19, which has exacerbated the overdose epidemic.
About RIZE Massachusetts
RIZE Massachusetts is an independent nonprofit foundation committed to achieving zero stigma and zero deaths related to opioid use disorder by investing in meaningful solutions and employing broad perspectives that will save lives, reduce harm, and end the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.rizema.org.
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