Over 100 participants gathered at the Columbus Foundation in November for a two-day conference focused on harm reduction and substance use.
Harm reduction panel
The conference covered a wide range of important topics, including best practices and ways to build support for harm reduction programs. Community leaders from throughout Ohio joined national experts and boots-on-the-ground activists for panel sessions, group discussions and lectures.
“This was a great opportunity for individuals around our state to learn how to develop and implement a successful harm reduction program in their own communities,” says Jose Rodriguez, director of external relations and strategic initiatives at the College of Public Health. “We know harm reduction efforts save lives, but there is still a lot of education to be done.”
The college partnered with Equitas Health/Safe Point, Harm Reduction Ohio, AIDS United and the Harm Reduction Coalition to host the conference. Financial support came from the Susan J. and Terry T. Reid Foundation Fund of the Columbus Foundation; the Nord Family Foundation; and the AIDS Funding Collaborative of Cuyahoga County.
