Every first, third and fifth Wednesday from October 2025 until November 2025

In Saving Our Own Lives, Shira Hassan notes that "while harm reduction is most often thought of as a set of practical strategies used to address injection drug use, it is actually a liberatory approach to community preservation and a value-based creation..." As the war on drugs escalates and federal support of evidence-based treatment is cut, understanding and embracing Harm Reduction principles and practices has never been more urgent. During this three part reading group we will discuss Hassan's book and its applications locally!

Use promo code HARMREDUCTION to save 10% on the book at checkout. Firestorm will make copies of the book available at no cost for participants who cannot afford to buy one.

Reading Schedule

We'll be tackling this book over three sessions. Each will roughly stand on its own and you're welcome to join in whether or not you've attended previous sessions.

• October 15th – Pages 1 to 82
• October 29th – Pages 83 to 232
• November 5th – Pages 233 to 336

Hill Brown (they/them), based in Western North Carolina, is the Southern Director of Faith in Harm Reduction. Hill is a founding board member and the former executive director of Steady Collective, a community based Harm Reduction program in Asheville NC. Born and raised in Alabama, Hill is committed to speaking about and directly addressing the particular ways that gentrification and displacement; racial capitalism; and the war on people who use drugs manifest in the Southern United States.