What we do

We are a group of Indigenous folks who do harm reduction by and for Indigenous people. We practice harm reduction in many ways. Some of the work we do includes: harm reduction education for Indigenous people, communities, nations, and service providers; harm reduction support; events and support by and for 2spirit folks; workshop and meeting facilitation; organizing; hosting; and capacity building.

One of our core values is that how we do things is as important as what we do. For more about who we are, how we work, and why that matters, see the About Us page.

PROGRAMS IN OUR DOWNTOWN SPACE

In December 2021, after two years without our own space, we opened up a new Indigenous art studio and gallery. We’re super excited to finally have our own place where we can connect face-to-face with folks. Below is a description of the kinds of things we do at this space.

Art Studio

10-4 pm, Monday / Tuesday / Thursday (closed Wednesdays)
10-7 pm on Fridays — frybread at 3 pm
Indigenous-only space for people who want to work on art, with priority for Indigenous “street community” members who are criminalized for drug or alcohol use. People do NOT need to be sober to access the space. The Art Studio is a place where people can learn and practice different art forms and techniques, and work on / store their artwork. During these times people have access to art supplies, work space, and art mentors who can support with learning & practice.

Art Gallery

11 – 4 pm, Saturdays & Sundays
In our storefront space Indigenous artists connected with IHRT can display their work, and during gallery hours the public can come in and buy work that is for sale. 100% of the sale $ goes to the artists, IHRT doesn’t take a cut. Gallery space is prioritized for Indigenous artists who use substances, especially Indigenous “street community” members.

Circles, workshops, and groups

Upcoming events are listed below and there’s more coming soon. COVID safety measures are in effect including masks available at the door. No pre-registration, just come if you can. Each circle / workshop / group is limited to 10 people (if you want a spot saved, please talk with us ahead of time). You do NOT have to be sober. Everyone who comes gets $10, we know it’s hard to have to choose between coming to programs and being out in community making money so we want to offset that as much as we can.

Health and wellness supplies

As much as possible we try to make Indigenous medicines more accessible to people who use substances. We have some smudging supplies, including shells, sage, and sweetgrass that people can take home (though our supply is limited).

IHRT is a distribution site for naloxone kits through the Take Home Naloxone program. We also have free condoms/lube, syringes, swabs, pipes, and other health and wellness supplies that help reduce infection risks and help promote community well-being.

HARM REDUCTION SUPPORT AND TRAINING OUT IN COMMUNITY

We offer harm reduction support and training to Indigenous nations / organizations / communities / people in any way we can – conversation, workshops, information, delivery of harm reduction supplies, etc. Our harm reduction expertise includes: overdose prevention and response, consent, safer sex, safer substance use, how different substances work, principles of harm reduction in every day life, sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, and Hep C.

Education and training

We can host in-person training in our downtown space for groups that want to come to us, and we can also go to local nations, Indigenous organizations, or Indigenous events to do harm reduction support and training out in community. We’re also open to doing support and training by Zoom or phone, instead of in-person.

Our overdose prevention & response training includes showing people how to recognize an overdose and how to give naloxone. We are a distribution site for naloxone kits and can bring kits out to Indigenous communities or organizations (in addition to helping access condoms/lube, syringes, and other harm reduction supplies that help reduce risks and promote community well-being).

Accessing culture in community

We try to find creative ways to support Indigenous people who use substances to access Indigenous cultural events in community — while also recognizing that not all cultural spaces are equally accessible (because of ableism, heterosexism, gender binaries, substance use-shaming / stigma, etc). This is part of why we organize cultural events and workshops in our space. But we also want to, where possible, support broader access. For example before COVID we helped Indigenous people in the street community to go to a local pow wow. We hope that as things open up again there will be more ways we can again support people to connect with culture in community.

In 2019, before COVID, we held a circle on a beach near the ocean. We hope this summer to again have options for group transport to be able to do more outings where people can get out onto the land.