Community Engagement

BSHRC connects students, health professionals, and community members to harm reduction-related volunteer opportunities in Baltimore.

Baltimore City Needle Exchange Program

  • The Baltimore City Needle Exchange Program reserves two volunteer positions per year for active members in BSHRC.
  • This volunteer opportunity is in high demand, and puts volunteers on the frontlines of harm reduction work in Baltimore City.

Baltimore City Staying Alive Overdose Prevention Program

  • BSHRC members were trained in overdose prevention and response and volunteered for the Staying Alive program previously.

Moveable Feast

  • BSHRC members help to coordinate volunteer days, and directly volunteer their time and skills, for Moveable Feast, a local organization that provides free meals for people in Maryland with AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

National Harm Reduction Conference

  • BSHRC was tasked with local community engagement for the 10th National Harm Reduction Conference, which was held in Baltimore MD on October 23-26, 2014. This conference was the most highly attended conference by local community members in the conference’s history.

Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) Program

  • BSHRC conducts free Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) Trainings in the community, which are authorized by the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DHMH). Learn more »
  • The one-hour training focuses on recognizing an opioid overdose (e.g. from heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone) and administering naloxone (also known as Narcan), a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdose.
  • By becoming an OEND Trainer, volunteers will lead trainings in Baltimore and surrounding counties.
  • We also welcome volunteer prescribers for our trainings, including medical residents, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician’s assistants.
  • BSHRC also offers an Overdose Education Training for Health Professionals, which includes more detail on the epidemiology of overdose in Maryland, the importance responsibly prescribing opioids to patients and the need for take-home naloxone, as well as strategies for discussing drug use and overdose risk with patients.

Transgender Action Group (TAG)

  • We are currently accepting volunteers for TAG – a grassroots community initiative known that provides outreach, legal, and other services for trans* street-based sex workers in the lower Charles Village neighborhood.  Volunteers are mostly needed for outreach [on foot] during 11pm-3am on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month.  Other opportunities may be available for those with special skills or who have mobility concerns.

Are you a local community-based organization looking to partner with us? Or interested in getting involved in any of the volunteering opportunities listed below? Get in touch!