The Harm Reduction Futures Fund (formerly the Syringe Access Fund) is a collaborative grantmaking initiative that seeks to reduce the health, psychosocial, and socioeconomic disparities experienced by people who use drugs (PWUD).
Donor Name: AIDS United
State: All States
County:
U.S. Territory: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/05/2023
Size of the Grant: $25,000 to $40,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
The primary goal of the Harm Reduction Futures Fund is to provide core support for programs that demonstrate:
- an ability to provide high quality syringe and other drug user health services to one or more identified communities, and/or
- an ability to conduct local-, statewide-, or national-level policy advocacy initiatives that demonstrate concrete objectives and activities to expand access to community-based syringe distribution.
The Harm Reduction Futures Fund seeks to identify and support organizations across intersecting movements to enhance and coordinate services for people who use drugs. It supports and funds organizations that are led by and/or meaningfully involve and serve networks of people who use drugs, including in the design, delivery, and evaluation of services.
The Harm Reduction Futures Fund invests in evidence-based and community-driven approaches to prevent the transmission of both HIV and viral hepatitis, reduce injection-related injuries, increase overdose prevention and reversal efforts, and connect people who use drugs to comprehensive prevention, treatment, and support services. In Round 14, the Harm Reduction Futures Fund will prioritize support for programs that are led by and serve Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), as well as those in jurisdictions of high need and low resources. Other compelling factors may include the leadership of current or former sex workers; prevalence of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other blood-borne pathogens in a community; injection drug use prevalence; opioid use; overdose incidence; availability of local funding; and areas in which policy improvement can have local, state, and/or national impact.
The Harm Reduction Futures Fund offers grant support under three categories:
- syringe services programs providing direct services,
- harm reduction organizations supporting multiple syringe service programs providing direct services or
- harm reduction organizations conducting community advocacy activities focused on legalizing or strengthening syringe services programs and other health interventions for PWUD at the local, state, and federal levels. Organizations are eligible to apply under only ONE category.
Funding Information
- Direct Service organizations are invited to submit proposals for $10,000 to $25,000 for one year. (AU anticipates 5-10 programs will receive funding)
- Multi-Program Support organizations are invited to submit proposals for $25,000 to $40,000 for one year. (AU anticipates 1 program will receive funding)
- Harm Reduction organizations with Advocacy projects are invited to submit proposals for $10,000 to $25,000 for one year. (AU anticipates 1 program will receive funding
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for funding, applicants must meet one or both of the following criteria. For Multi-Program Support, the ultimate beneficiaries of the grant must meet the criteria below.
- Racial Equity
- Applicant organizations led by and serving a majority of people of color.
- AIDS United is defining “BIPOC-led organizations” as those with 1) a self-identified BIPOC executive director/highest paid staff or equivalent (or 50%+ if a Co-Director/flat leadership model),
- 51%+ self-identified BIPOC in senior leadership, and 3) 51%+ self-identified BIPOC among staff o AIDS United is defining “BIPOC-serving organizations” as those serving 51%+ of participants who self-identify as BIPOC
- Note: It recognizes that these definitions are imperfect. They are committed to continued learning, updating our language, and being cognizant of the ways in which race and power operate.
- Applicant organizations led by and serving a majority of people of color.
- Areas of High Need/Low Resource
- Programs in this category and/or the jurisdictions in which they serve can be defined as (but not limited to):
- SSPs are not sanctioned in the area you serve
- SSPs are highly restricted in the area you serve
- Zoning Laws
- Challenging to get sanctioned
- Mandated one-for-one services
- Newly established
- Primarily LGBTQ-serving
- No or very little state or local financial support for supplies
- Demand far outweighs supply
- Harm Reduction and/or drug use supplies highly criminalized
- Limited or no access to needs-based SSPs outside of the applicant organization
- Serving a large geographic area
- Small program with high volume distribution
- Limited access to supplies
- Serving communities not reached by other service providers or SSPs
- Programs in this category and/or the jurisdictions in which they serve can be defined as (but not limited to):
Applicants must also meet all the following criteria:
- Geographic Location
- Applicants must be located and perform work within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Native American Reservations/Tribal Lands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Non-Profit Status
- Applicants must be non-profit, tax-exempt organizations, per the guidelines set forth by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with proper 501(c)(3) status. Verification of this federal status will be undertaken by AIDS United before final grant decisions are made. Organizations or coalitions that do not hold 501(c)(3) status must have a fiscal sponsor that does.
- Financial Stability
- Organizations should be fiscally stable and viable prior to submission of the funding application, meaning organizations should have the financial ability to operate for the duration of the grant period.
For more information, visit AIDS United.
