about us

Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc. (BHRC) is a community-based organization that implements public health services based in harm reduction, provides community trainings and other resources, and advocates for policies to expand harm reduction initiatives in Baltimore and across the state of Maryland. We believe in the value and dignity of all people, especially those who use drugs, engage in sex work, and/or have been impacted by the criminalization of such activities by the war on drugs and anti sex-worker policies. We believe we have a duty to assist in each other’s safety; thus, we have established and implemented programming to address this need at every level - individual, societal, and systematic.

Our office is located in lower Charles Village, an area with significantly higher overdose fatality and HIV/AIDS mortality rates than citywide averages. We partner with numerous other harm reduction and public health organizations across the city, the state, and the nation.


Meet the Team

  • Nicole Hanson-Mundell

    Executive Director

  • Lukah Love

    Finance Director

  • Alie Waller

    Operations Manager

  • Candy Kerr

    Communications Manager

  • Rachel Luce

    Services Manager

  • Hyun Dunn

    Services Manager

  • Darci Curwen-Garber

    Services Coordinator

  • Lee Scoggins

    Operations Administrator

our history

Founded in 2011 as the Baltimore Student​ Harm Reduction Coalition, BSHRC was primarily comprised of graduate and undergraduate students in health fields. Our founders were not given harm reduction training in school and wanted to bring this perspective to current and future health professionals, forming a community of providers committed to practicing harm reduction in Baltimore. As the organization grew to include more practicing service providers and residents directly impacted by criminalization, we removed “student” from our name.

Today, BHRC represents and partners with a varied group of people, including those specifically targeted by anti-drug user and anti-sex worker policies, their loved ones, healthcare and service providers, advocates and organizers, public health workers, researchers, and other community members.


BHRC Over the Years:

2011: After attending a harm reduction conference, a number of students began organizing with their peers and community advisors to form a harm reduction education group in Baltimore. We established a partnership with Fusion Partnerships, Inc., a fiscal sponsor focused on grassroots, social justice organizing in Baltimore and the surrounding areas, to provide administrative and operational support.


2012: We established an advisory board of local advocates and national harm reduction leaders, and continued to train hundreds of Baltimore residents in harm reduction concepts and skills.


2013-2014: We hired the first staff member and continued engaging dozens of volunteer-members. We supported multiple street-based outreach and service programs with volunteer time and supplies.


2014: We became the state’s first community based organization to provide opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution to potential responders/overdose witnesses. We have since guided other organizations to launch similar programs.


2013-16: We started working on policy advocacy, including Good Samaritan protections for people responding to overdose, Syringe Service Program expansion, and expanded naloxone access to community members. We have continued to go back each year to refine and rework these laws to increase access to services and reduce barriers to needed life-saving measures.


2017-18: With the arrival of new leadership, we expanded from one staff member to three full time staff members and two part time staff members, in addition to a dedicated team of volunteers and collaborators. We also took on coordination of the BRIDGES Coalition for Overdose Prevention Sites. We also initiated the founding of the Maryland Harm Reduction Advocacy Network (MHRAN)–a statewide group that discusses local concerns in order to spread harm reduction across jurisdiction.


2019: We became one of the two community-based syringe service providers authorized by the Maryland Department of Health. We expanded our staff further by adding two new part-time staff members and began offering paid internships.

2020: With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closing of many existing city-based syringe service services sites, BHRC expanded our street outreach and direct services offerings. We established partnerships with Simmons Baptist Church in Baltimore’s Penn-North neighborhood and St. Luke’s Church in Hampden to provide supplies distribution once a week at their locations. Additionally, we started similar outreach efforts on Maryland Avenue in Charles Village, a mobile shift in the Penn-North neighborhood, and expanded our drop-by hours. We hired two more staff members, bringing our total to 8, and incorporated as an LLC with the Maryland Secretary of State

2021-22:  As support for overdose prevention sites grew nationally, we visited the first operating OPC in New York and established an ongoing partnership with OnPoint, the organization behind the sites. We hired more staff members, engaged paid advocacy, policy, and services interns, and were approved by the IRS as a 501c3 tax exempt organization. 

2023: In July 2023, BHRC transitioned away from our fiscal sponsorship relationship with Fusion and struck out on our own! We solidified crucial relationships with policymakers and other significant Baltimore stakeholders, securing public support for Overdose Prevention Sites Baltimore’s mayor, the director of Baltimore’s Health Department, and numerous other city officials. We expanded our services and operations teams, including spearheading an initiative to provide mail-order syringe services for hormone replacement therapy recipients across Maryland.