Help Matt and Marina attend IHR25 Conference in Columbia

Hello, we are Matt and Marina, frontline harm reduction workers and community organizers in Toronto, Canada. We are partners in life and in the movement for drug user liberation We are humbly asking for the community's support to help us get to Columbia for the International Harm Reduction Conference 2025 April 27th-30th.

Matt (they/them) has been doing harm reduction work for over 20 years. They are a dedicated harm reduction organizer and activist with lived experience that was part of the collective Toronto Overdose Prevention Society (TOPS) that started the first unsanctioned Overdose Prevention Site in Ontario. They are currently on the steering committee of the Harm Reduction Action Collective Toronto (HACT) and lead a team of harm reduction educators with lived experience of drug use.

Matt works at a Community Health Centre as a health promoter (harm reduction educator), safe consumption site worker and HIV Tester and overdose response trainer. They are dedicated toward helping to create less stigmatized care for People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) in social/ healthcare/ housing agencies. Matt is currently on medical leave, due to CPTSD and burnout, and receiving less than half their income and therefore has limited resources to put toward attending HR25.

They have given so much to the community over the decades. We are hoping you can support them with this rare opportunity to share their voice and experience and also learn with other harm reduction advocates, academics, policy makers and frontline harm reduction workers on an International scale.

My name is Marina (they/she) and I am also a community organizer and frontline harm reduction worker of 10 years. I helped found Harm Reduction Action Collective and continue to organize with them and TOPS, currently on the campaign to protect Safe Consumption Site Services and other Harm Reduction programming which is under attack in Ontario and internationally. My day job is as a harm reduction case manager working with PWUD living in low income housing and advocating for frontline workers rights and wellness. I am working part time while also going to school part time, hopefully to achieve my MSW. I have access to some work professional development money to support the conference fee and coverage for costs on the days of the conference but do not have work funding for other expenses for the trip.

I would like to attend HR25 to share the work we have been doing with HAC and TOPS in Canada and learn from the incredible international community to bring that knowledge back home.

Costs for both of us include $1770 in conference fees, at least $2000 in flights , plus accommodation costs and food when there (figuring out costs). We need to book our flights soon to avoid the costs going up.

We know this is no small thing to ask and any amount donated is helpful It's a vulnerable thing to ask for support this way but we believe in the power of collective care and mutual aid so we are trying to practice what we preach by also asking for help when we need it. Thank you for reading if you made it this far aha. We love you and we are so grateful for your support!