Harm Reduction Hacks in Focus: Space Hacks
All The Hacks
Everything together in one place for you to find
This is a growing collection of harm reduction hacks—practical ideas, tools, and improvisations shared by people doing the work. These hacks come from lived experience and collective wisdom, offering low-barrier ways to solve problems, save time, or do more with less. They’re not prescriptions—they’re possibilities.
If you’re new to using hacks or want to think more deeply about how and why we share them, check out our section on Using the Hacks for reflections on language, ethics, and the philosophy behind harm reduction improvisation.
Hacks for Preventing Escalation
“Preventing escalation is the responsibility of each harm reduction leader and organization, as well as each staff person, volunteer, and even participant. “
Space Hacks Resources
Resources directly relating to Space Hacks and harm reduction spaces
The most obvious resource to share with you is of course the original Harm Reduction Hacks website which covers hacks relating to the running of harm reduction serives in the USA.
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“The bottom line is that overdose prevention sites — which exist in more than 100 cities around the world — offer compassion for fellow human beings,”
Mayor Jim Kenney -
"I describe my experiences as a nurse volunteer at the overdose prevention site as “being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.” And that’s exactly where I want to be as a nurse: working outside the system to make a real difference in people’s lives, showing up in the community when it matters most and challenging rules that directly contribute to the overdose crisis, and exposing government inaction by being part of the solution on the ground. For me, this is what nursing is all about."
Marilou Gagnon -
“One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.”
Charles M. Blow -
"We have to be ready and able to reach clients where they are, not where we want them to be”
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"Between an uncontrolled escalation and passivity, there is a demanding road of responsibility that we must follow. "
Dominique de Villepin -
“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.”
Thich Nhat Hanh -
"There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do."
Terry Pratchett -
“Boundaries help me to give all that I can and still come back tomorrow.”
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"One of the problems that arises with the term “people who use drugs” is that it is intentionally pluralistic in its embrace of ALL people who use drugs—from recreationally to deeply problematically. This makes using it to talk about the things that especially impact people who are using drugs problematically very difficult. "
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“Identify five things that you can see, four things that you can touch, three things that you can hear, two things that you can smell and one thing that you can taste.”
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"Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."
Fred Rogers -
"Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free."
Thich Nhat Hanh -
"Opponent’s of syringe service programs and harm reduction in general typically remark that it “sends the wrong message.” The message they are referring to is, “We love you and want you to be safe.”
Christopher Abert -
"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. -
"If you question harm reduction works, I can’t help but wonder if you have ever actually seen what happens in these spaces. We promote health safety and dignity, and it works. It is simple, beautiful and changes peoples lives."
Haven Wheelock -
"We don’t need to professionalize the people closest to the crisis. We need to recognise them as professionals already.”
Jules Netherland -
“As always, be transparent with participants about what you have, what you don't have, and/or what's for only special populations.”
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We need to play that game where we require politicians to finish every sentence denouncing supervised injection facilities with the phrase, “and that is why I think injecting alone in a McDonald’s bathroom is better.”
Jonathan Giftos -
“People who cause harm are often also survivors of harm. If we want to address the roots of violence, we have to honour both truths.”
Danielle Sered -
“Many of the harm reduction leaders interviewed talked about the importance of not having too many policies and involving your participants in the development of policies—especially those that impact them directly.”
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"The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma."
Judith Lewis Herman -
"One of the most important things we can do as advocates is to define & make concrete the vague terms used by politicians. What does it mean to “take a public health approach”? What you mean when you say “treatment”? Politicians rarely know. Our job is to make it plain for them."
Jonathan Giftos -
“In general, it is antithetical to harm reduction best practices to call the police except under the most extreme life-or-death circumstances.”
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"Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."
Fred Rogers -
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Audre Lorde -
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Martin Luther King Jr. -
"Not all traumas are the result of what happened to you; some are the result of what didn’t happen for you"
Gabor Maté -
"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."
Fred Rogers
- “The bottom line is that overdose prevention sites — which exist in more than 100 cities around the world — offer compassion for fellow human beings,”
- "I describe my experiences as a nurse volunteer at the overdose prevention site as “being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.” And that’s exactly where I want to be as a nurse: working outside the system to make a real difference in people’s lives, showing up in the community when it matters most and challenging rules that directly contribute to the overdose crisis, and exposing government inaction by being part of the solution on the ground. For me, this is what nursing is all about."
- “One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.”
- "We have to be ready and able to reach clients where they are, not where we want them to be”
- "Between an uncontrolled escalation and passivity, there is a demanding road of responsibility that we must follow. "
- “When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.”
- "There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do."
- “Boundaries help me to give all that I can and still come back tomorrow.”
- "One of the problems that arises with the term “people who use drugs” is that it is intentionally pluralistic in its embrace of ALL people who use drugs—from recreationally to deeply problematically. This makes using it to talk about the things that especially impact people who are using drugs problematically very difficult. "
- “Identify five things that you can see, four things that you can touch, three things that you can hear, two things that you can smell and one thing that you can taste.”
- "Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."
- "Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free."
- "Opponent’s of syringe service programs and harm reduction in general typically remark that it “sends the wrong message.” The message they are referring to is, “We love you and want you to be safe.”
- "What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."
- "If you question harm reduction works, I can’t help but wonder if you have ever actually seen what happens in these spaces. We promote health safety and dignity, and it works. It is simple, beautiful and changes peoples lives."
- "We don’t need to professionalize the people closest to the crisis. We need to recognise them as professionals already.”
- “As always, be transparent with participants about what you have, what you don't have, and/or what's for only special populations.”
- We need to play that game where we require politicians to finish every sentence denouncing supervised injection facilities with the phrase, “and that is why I think injecting alone in a McDonald’s bathroom is better.”
- “People who cause harm are often also survivors of harm. If we want to address the roots of violence, we have to honour both truths.”
- “Many of the harm reduction leaders interviewed talked about the importance of not having too many policies and involving your participants in the development of policies—especially those that impact them directly.”
- "The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma."
- "One of the most important things we can do as advocates is to define & make concrete the vague terms used by politicians. What does it mean to “take a public health approach”? What you mean when you say “treatment”? Politicians rarely know. Our job is to make it plain for them."
- “In general, it is antithetical to harm reduction best practices to call the police except under the most extreme life-or-death circumstances.”
- "Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."
- “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
- "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
- "Not all traumas are the result of what happened to you; some are the result of what didn’t happen for you"
- "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."