Harm Reduction Hacks in Focus: Space Hacks
Using Space Hacks
There are 9 hacks in this section
Hacks for Using Space Hacks
Helping you to get the most out of this website
Apply harm reduction to your programs! This is not a site of guilty “to-dos”!! It is a menu of options to help you meet your program where it is at, right now, and make the incremental changes that will benefit the well-being of your program and, more importantly, your participants over the long term.
These insights are vetted with a view to, ultimately, save you the time and energy spent by those of us who had to learn them in the first place.
The insights and information here have been thoroughly researched against existing literature from a variety of disciplines including public health, social work, nursing, psychiatry, transformative and restorative justice, and non-profit management.
There is no one-size fits all answer for most of the subjects discussed.
Jump in where you need to, this is not meant to be a linear read.
Tailor the insights and suggestions here to your organization and needs.
Know that this isn’t everything you will need—but it does cover some really important basics.
Everything here could be another whole site, so use the resources given to learn more!
This section is made up of the following categories:
Acronyms First
Posted in Language.
This website uses a number of commonly recognised acronyms related to harm reduction, health services, and drug policy. To help you navigate the content more easily, we’ve compiled a quick-reference list of these terms and their meanings.
Important Terms: Escalated Events
Posted in Language.
Rather than refer to “emergencies” or “security problems,” we talk in terms of “escalated events,” because all of the following can create escalated emotional states, and sometimes catastrophically heightened stress levels, in everyone involved.
Important Terms: Person First Language
Posted in Language.
Generally, it’s important to use “person first language” when describing people who are marginalized due to some part of their identity being stigmatized, such as folks struggling with their substance use, people who do sex work, and folks living outside.
Other Notes on Language
Posted in Language.
Throughout Space Hacks, we build on the foundations laid by the original Harm Reduction Hacks by using a shared language. This includes key definitions and concepts that support a consistent, inclusive, and grounded approach to harm reduction, social justice, and health equity.
Harm Reduction
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
Harm reduction is the foundation of the Hacks, combining practical support with compassion for people facing stigma and structural barriers.
Principles of Harm Reduction
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
These principles were developed over a period of about four years in the 1990s amid much debate among early harm reductionists, who came to consensus on these enduring principles of harm reduction.
Consent Culture
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
The concept of “consent culture” emerged from the sex positive movement of the 1980s and 90s. It was a response to the concept of “rape culture”, a term that had been coined to describe the experience that many people—especially women, queer and trans people—have of sexual violence and harassment.
Restorative and Transformative Justice
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
The restorative and transformative justice movements are two other sibling movements of the harm reduction movement, like the sex positive movement, that produced the idea of consent culture.
Trauma-Informed
Posted in Philosophical Orientations.
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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"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 -
“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 -
"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 -
"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 -
"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 -
"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 -
"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 -
“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 -
"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 -
"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 -
“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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“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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“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Audre Lorde -
“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 -
"Between an uncontrolled escalation and passivity, there is a demanding road of responsibility that we must follow. "
Dominique de Villepin -
“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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"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Martin Luther King Jr. -
“Boundaries help me to give all that I can and still come back tomorrow.”
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"We don’t need to professionalize the people closest to the crisis. We need to recognise them as professionals already.”
Jules Netherland -
"Not all traumas are the result of what happened to you; some are the result of what didn’t happen for you"
Gabor Maté -
"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. -
"There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do."
Terry Pratchett -
"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 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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"We have to be ready and able to reach clients where they are, not where we want them to be”
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“One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.”
Charles M. Blow -
“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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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
- "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."
- “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.”
- "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."
- "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."
- "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.”
- "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."
- "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."
- “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.”
- "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."
- "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."
- “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.”
- “In general, it is antithetical to harm reduction best practices to call the police except under the most extreme life-or-death circumstances.”
- “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
- “The bottom line is that overdose prevention sites — which exist in more than 100 cities around the world — offer compassion for fellow human beings,”
- "Between an uncontrolled escalation and passivity, there is a demanding road of responsibility that we must follow. "
- “As always, be transparent with participants about what you have, what you don't have, and/or what's for only special populations.”
- "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
- “Boundaries help me to give all that I can and still come back tomorrow.”
- "We don’t need to professionalize the people closest to the crisis. We need to recognise them as professionals already.”
- "Not all traumas are the result of what happened to you; some are the result of what didn’t happen for you"
- "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."
- "There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do."
- "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 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. "
- "We have to be ready and able to reach clients where they are, not where we want them to be”
- “One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.”
- “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.”
- 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.”