Mike Pomante, Program & Resources Manager at NHRC, is a harm reduction advocate, street outreach worker, fundraiser, and guerrilla gardener who builds compassionate communities with and for PWUD. His lived and living experiences of houselessness, incarceration, and substance use fuel his commitment to advancing social justice, equity, and health access.

The Harm Reduction Community Convening Model (HRCCM) identifies service gaps, co-develops solutions, expands harm reduction services in underserved regions, and engages PWUD from BIPOC, Latinx/e, and multilingual communities. It unites diverse stakeholders—nonprofits, local governments, providers, and PWUD—to dismantle systemic barriers to care. HRCCM tailors services to community needs through educational sessions, policy briefings, data analysis, and workshops, fostering community ownership and sustainability.

An impactful feature of HRCCM is its cultivation of transnational collaborations, featured during NHRC’s February 2024 Southern California Bilingual Harm Reduction Convening, which united stakeholders from the U.S. and Mexico to address high overdose rates in regions lacking harm reduction services like SSPs, naloxone distribution, and MOUD. By fostering cross-border partnerships, HRCCM tackled geographical barriers, enabling knowledge exchange, policy alignment, and coordinated binational approaches. These efforts are vital for addressing the transnational nature of drug use and health inequities, ensuring solutions are as interconnected as the communities they serve. Existing SSPs were strengthened and new harm reduction initiatives were incubated.

Another key element of HRCCM is the A-PLACE Community Mobilization tool, developed by NHRC to establish, expand, and improve harm reduction programs through a community-centered approach. Focusing on Awareness, Policy/Practice, Leadership, Alliances, Cultural Competency, and Evaluation, it centers PWUD in decision-making, strengthens partnerships, and advocates for policies that improve health outcomes. By offering training and technical assistance, A-PLACE helps organizations engage PWUD to optimize harm reduction services, ensuring programs meet community needs. The language justice component addresses language as a barrier to care and ensures that services are fully accessible to multilingual and culturally diverse communities.

The presentation will define HRCCM as a strategy for service provision and blueprint for dismantling barriers that perpetuate health inequities, explore its impact on the harm reduction landscape in Southern California, and provide guidance for replication in other communities.