Your neighbors adjacent to your sites are some of the most important allies to develop. These folks can be an asset, or a liability, and the choice is partially predicated on how you approach them and how responsible a community member you and your organization are in the community where you set up shop.

Many harm reduction organizations opt for setting up sites in depopulated light industrial or commercial areas, which is an excellent choice, but no matter the area, it is extremely important to try and be allies with the people around you.

• Introduce yourselves—Make it a priority to go out and physically meet folks in your neighborhood. Describe your services and what you’re doing for the community. Tell them how to get a hold of you and that you hope to be good neighbors. This will start to build trust around your organization.
• Have an open-house specifically for your neighbors—Set people’s minds at ease by showing them that harm reduction service centers are often more like well-organized garages rather than whatever preconceived notion they may have had.
• Give your neighbors direct access to someone in your organization via text or email in case there is an issue, if possible—to be a good neighbor you need to be especially responsive to issues around your site to avoid conflict, so having a direct line of communication for those near your site(s) is a wise choice.
• Have services that benefit all community members like community cleanup of bio-waste on demand. Not only does this alleviate public anxiety, it quells any possible accusation of being poor community partners. At the same time, introduce the general knowledge that pathogen transmission risk from discarded syringes is so low that no cases of HIV or HCV have been attributed to accidental needle sticks outside of medical settings.