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Hacks for Defining Your Physical Parameters

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Multiple harm reduction leaders talked about the importance of developing a sense of the physical parameters of your site.

This refers to the amount of territory around you that you’re willing to be responsible for in terms of cleanliness and/or de-escalation.

Many leaders said that, for physical locations, the block around them was about the only space that they felt like they could be responsible for, and some even limited it to outside their front door, or just a few feet away from their site. For leaders providing mobile services, those parameters were most reasonably set at “within sight range”.

It’s up to you to decide what you want those parameters to be, but you should do that upfront and advise harm reduction leaders. That way your community can be on the same page about what is, and is not, your responsibility.

Featured Hacks

These featured hacks highlight creative, practical solutions from harm reduction leaders on the ground. From DIY tools to clever workarounds, each one reflects the ingenuity, care, and real-world experience that keeps this movement alive. 

Creating and Defining Community

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Over and over, harm reduction leaders interviewed for Space Hacks centered the creation of community as central to their efforts to create safe, humane harm reduction spaces services that are trauma-informed and minimize the potential for escalated situations.
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Trauma-Informed

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The term “trauma-informed” emerges from a growing understanding of the far reaching ways that trauma impacts health and well-being. Trauma is defined here, in keeping with the scientific literature, as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience(s) that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, and significantly impacts their mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
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