On Tuesday afternoon, Lasara Firefox Allen, executive director of the Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction since 2019, announced that they will be leaving their role as head of the often-controversial community health organization.
Read their statement in full below:
Dear Community,
When I joined The Center in 2019 I never could have imagined what the last year would bring for all of us here in Humboldt County and across the world. And through it all, The Center has won major victories in preserving the health, safety, and dignity of the unhoused, those who use drugs, and those who trade sex, including:
* Adding a new program to provide linkage to low-barrier medication assisted treatment, one that has successfully enrolled nearly 100 individuals and is being heralded as a model to be replicated by community groups across the state.
* Adapting human resources and direct service protocols to be COVID-19-safe for participants and community members.
* Growing our budget, and adding three new positions via the California Harm Reduction Initiative (CHRI) grant through the National Harm Reduction Coalition.
* Engaging with hundreds of local politicians, state and local civil servants, and citizens to ensure that the Center was acting as a good neighbor in its community.
* Working with public health experts across the country as well as national policy leaders to bring priceless education on evidence-based service provision to local meetings.
* Expanding our partnership with Humboldt State University in order to train Social Work students in harm reduction.
* Expanding and instigating strategic partnerships locally and nationally.
* Adding decriminalization of sex work to HACHR’s strategic plan.
I am immensely grateful for the time I have spent as Executive Director at Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction, and am so proud of all we have accomplished together, for our participants, and for the community in which we live.I am excited to reveal Jasmine Guerra, our Assistant Director, as the Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction’s new Executive Director. Jasmine has been involved with HACHR since January 2020, serving first as a volunteer, then as SSP Coordinator, and then as Assistant Director. During her time with us, Jasmine has managed HACHR’s Syringe Service Program, developed funding opportunities, mentored a team of interns, and worked to strengthen relationships with community members and stakeholders. She has over seven years of team management, administrative, and crisis intervention experience. Participants, staff members, and partner organizations all know Jasmine as timely, organized, and able to work around difficulties with ease and patience, while keeping the sense of humanity in her work with any population she is serving. This leadership choice is a strategic step in supporting the growth of the Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction and our vision of a community with access to healthcare, housing, opportunities, and respect for every single one of us.
I cannot thank you–our community of participants, staff, interns, supporters, allies, friends, and neighbors–enough for your partnership. I look forward to continuing to work with you all as a member of the Board of Directors, and am excited to see the organization continue to grow under Jasmine’s capable leadership.
In solidarity, and with love,
-Lasara Firefox Allen
Executive Director
Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction
PREVIOUSLY:
- Eureka City Council to Consider Supporting Needle-Exchange Program
- Eureka City Council Members Question Whether HACHR’s Syringe Exchange Program is ‘The One’ for the City
- STATE OF EUREKA: Following Citizen Outcry, the City is Ratcheting Up the Pressure on Needle Litter (and Hoping Things Won’t Snap)
- City of Eureka Announces Opposition to HACHR Recertification, Releases Lengthy Report Chronicling Months-Long Undercover Surveillance
- HACHR Releases Statement Detailing Steps It Plans to Take Moving Forward
- Eureka City Council to Discuss HACHR’s Syringe Exchange Program; Consider Grant Funding to Aid Bars, Restaurants and Retailers Adapting to COVID-19
- Eureka City Council Approves Letter Opposing the Reauthorization of HACHR’S Syringe Exchange Program
- State Reauthorizes HACHR’s Syringe Exchange Program, But Gives Eureka More Control
- Eureka City Council Set to Finalize Agreement With Needle-Exchange Program, Clear Remaining Red Tape on Betty Chinn Trailer Village off South Broadway
- Eureka City Council Votes Down Proposed HACHR Agreement, But Will Reconsider Vote Tonight
- Eureka City Council to Consider Temporary Ban on Syringe Exchange Programs, After Rejecting Proposed HACHR Agreement
- Eureka City Council Temporarily Bans Syringe Exchange Operated by HACHR
- HACHR Blasts Eureka Council Majority in Wake of Last Night’s Decision; Vows to Keep Fighting; Says ‘The Time For Compromise is Over’
- (AUDIO) HUMBOLDT HOLDING UP: HACHR Executive Director Discusses Recent Eureka City Council Decision, the Importance of Syringe Exchange Programs and Harm Reduction
- HACHR Says It Will Offer Syringe Exchange Services Just Outside Eureka City Limits Starting Wednesday
- HACHR Offering Home Delivery for Syringe Exchange Outside Eureka, Backs Away from Plan to Set Up Near City Limits
- Eureka City Council to Consider Allowing Mobile Syringe Exchange During the Pandemic, Discuss Caltrans’ Richardson Grove Project, Vote Again on Anti-Camping Ordinance
- Eureka City Council Unanimously Approves Mobile Syringe Exchanges During the Pandemic
- Eureka City Council to Consider HACHR Mobile Syringe Exchange Proposal, Vote Again on Camping Ordinance