Harm Reduction in the South with Tim Santamour

Today we sit down with Tim Santamour, Executive Director, Florida Harm Reduction Collective, is a person with Living/Lived Experience in Substance Use and has over 33 years of experience in harm reduction. He began his work with ACTUP/Western New York and Prevention Point Buffalo in 1991 and was a co-founder of Buffalo Columbus Hospital’s Syringe Services Program (SSP) in 1993. In 1994 Tim moved to New York City where he volunteered with the Lower East Side Needle Exchange Program and, later, Moving Equipment Queer Harm Reduction Collective. From 2001-2004 Tim served as Executive Director of DanceSafe, a harm reduction organization working in Rave, Circuit Party, and Electronic Dance Music communities. Tim has become recognized as a Harm Reduction OG. Over the years he has been a member of the North American Users Union and a vocal advocate for gay men who inject drugs. In 2018 he retired from NYS Department of Motor Vehicles and moved to Florida where he co-founded Florida Harm Reduction Collective, a statewide network of SSPs, Recovery Community Organizations, and opioid overdose prevention and reversal organizations. Tim received a BA in Literature in English from Hunter College in 2017 and serves on several statewide, regional, and national advisory boards, including People with Lived Experience in Research and University of Miami’s HIV Prevention Community Advisory Board.To learn more about the Florida Harm Reduction Collective visit: https://www.flhrc.org/To learn more about the Southern Harm Reduction Coalition visit: https://www.flhrc.org/fl-southern-collective/For safer smoking supplies visit: www.smokeworks.orgHarm Reduction in South Carolina:www.challengesinc.org www.southcarolinahrc.orgBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-needle-and-the-narrative--1518412/support.