Do you have lived experience with substance-use and/or addiction? Have you ever thought about using your lived substance use experience* and substance use expertise to help educate others and provide meaningful services to people most in need of harm reduction resources? If so, this position might be just for you! HCRS is seeking to hire a highly motivated individual to help bring direct harm reduction services to people living in emergency shelters and permanent supportive housing, as well as facilitate and develop harm reduction trainings for area providers and people with substance use experiences. This is a great opportunity to work on an exciting new grant that’s doing creative and innovative things in our community. We hope you will consider applying for this position and being part of a wonderful team.

• We define someone with lived substance use experience as someone who personally has used substances themselves and whose life, for whatever the experience, has been changed by those substances.

The Harm reduction Coordinator will make an impact by:

• Providing person-centered direct services, based on connection, learning together, listening and mutuality
• Advocating with, or on the behalf of program participants regarding their basic life needs, as well as their healthcare, safety and/or equity needs
• Developing harm reduction services to create better access to evidence-based and promising practices resources and harm reduction education and supplies in the residential setting and in the broader community.
• Coordinating harm reduction initiatives within residential settings, including (but not limited to) peer-to-peer harm reduction education and/or groups.
• Identifying and developing trainings for program participants, staff, and volunteers, with assistance from the program director.
• Collaborating with the program director and local housing agencies in developing and updating policy and procedures to better meet the needs of residents and program participants
• Referring program participants to additional resources and/or services, as needed and wanted by the program participant themselves
• Attending grant required meetings and community-wide meetings, as needed

As a team, we value and emphasize:

• Meaningful connection and professional relationships that are rooted in empathy, mutuality, humility, and learning
• Open communication and constructive feedback
• Holding space for communication among individuals with multiple different perspectives, experiences and communication styles
• Collaboration that comes from working on a team
• Creativity, open-mindedness and innovative
• Harm reduction as a philosophy, passion about justice and the belief that everyone deserves dignity, and to have their needs met
• Have a high level of self-awareness and willingness to learn
• Can hold a safe space for and uplift the voices of those most impacted by substance use

We’d love to have you apply for this position if you have experience with:

• Personal history with harm reduction, providing harm reduction direct service work and/or experience with harm reduction as a philosophy
• Current and past harm reduction initiatives and movements
• Providing direct service work to people who’ve historically experienced oppression, marginalization and discrimination
• The stages of change as it relates to substance use and substance use disorder
• Working in an environment that requires good time management and organizational skills
• Recovery coaching, motivational interviewing, intentional peer support and/or other mutual-aid
• Virtual meeting spaces including Zoom and Microsoft Teams
• Community providers - as it relates to receiving services from, collaborating with and/or knowledge of
• Facilitating difficult and constructive conversations
• Being part of a creative and multi-cultural team, with diverse backgrounds
• Social grassroots organizing, social justice, recovery community, social work, non-profits, public health or other related fields

Other helpful motivations, skills and experience to have for this position:

• Experience with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Google documents and Google Drive
• Good/excellent written and oral communication skills
• A commitment to making a difference in your community by uplifting the voices of those most impacted by substance use and overdose deaths
• Can work with a high level of independence, organization and self-direction and manage changing priorities for self and others
• Have the ability to inspire trust and confidence of a diverse group of people
• Have a commitment to racial and social equity principles and an understanding of the social determinants of health

During the efforts of this work, we’re committed to living our social justice values. We recognize that marginalized groups, particularly people with lived experience with addiction, recovery, the criminal justice system, and LGBTQ/TGNC people of color, have different access to employment and job advancement. We believe strongly in leadership development and lifting up voices of leadership of most impacted people. We will work with the right person to develop the necessary skills to be successful in this position. If you are a person who is ambitious and committed to learning, and believe you have the ability to take on this role, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Additional Information: This is a grant-funded position ending August 31, 2025. Applicants or current HCRS Employees who are offered employment with HCRS in a position involving fiscal matters (e.g. grants management) will be subject to criminal background checks prior to beginning such employment with HCRS. We acknowledge that life experiences with substance use very often result in the existence of a record, and strongly encourage those with this experience to discuss any concerns you have with the Project Director, HR, or a person involved in interviewing. The existence of a record alone will not prevent an otherwise qualified applicant from moving forward, though specific charges may be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and subject to the approval of HCRS HR and grant funding entities as needed. HCRS and the hiring committee will hold this information in the strictest confidence, and no information will be released to an outside entity without the applicant’s consent.

To Apply: Please apply online at www.hcrs.org/about-us/careers. We will be accepting applications until December 7, 2022. If you would like support with your application-please contact Jedediah Popp at jpopp@hcrs.org and they will connect you with our application navigator.

Questions may be directed to Jedediah Popp jpopp@hcrs.org

Hours and compensation: This is a full-time HCRS position and includes a very comprehensive benefit package. The Harm Reduction Coordinator will work 33 hours per week position and will be compensated at $21.90 per hour, with a strong possibility of an annual cost of living increase. HCRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.