The overdose crisis is impacting US communities everywhere, and overdose fatalities are at an all-time high in Black, Indigenous, and Latine communities. This national trend is mirrored in North Carolina. Over the last two decades, 37,000 lives were lost to drug overdose in North Carolina, and while overdose deaths are declining overall, they are still rising for the aforementioned communities. From 2019 to 2020, data shows a 66% increase in overdose death rates among Black/African American people, a 93% increase among American Indian/Indigenous people, and a 65% increase among Latine/Hispanic people. Vulnerability to overdose among these communities is compounded by the fact that responses to drug use–for example, the War on Drugs–have historically been rooted in coercion and punishment.
The North Carolina Community-Powered Overdose Prevention (NC CPOP) grant will support organizations that are advancing a different approach. A partnership between Vital Strategies and Frontline Solutions, NC CPOP is providing microgrants of $50,000 to 20 organizations led and powered by Black, Indigenous, and Latine communities in North Carolina that are seeking to adopt or deepen the adoption of health-oriented and supportive approaches to reduce the incidence of negative health effects and the number of fatal overdoses among Black, Indigenous, and Latine people who use drugs (PWUD).
These practical and justice-centered approaches focus on reducing the negative consequences of drug use while respecting the rights of people who use drugs–an orienting principle for public health work often referred to as harm reduction. For many Black, Indigenous, and Latine communities, harm reduction practices are similar to the ways that people have kept each other safe in the face of racism, colonization, and other systems of oppression. Any action taken to address the overdose crisis must involve community members and the voices of people who use drugs.
We are excited to announce the 20 NC CPOP grantees* and a brief description of their projects.
On The Bright Side: This Mecklenburg County-based organization will establish a Black-led statewide coalition of survivors of the War on Drugs whose first project is to launch an overdose awareness and prevention campaign that centers on Black men who use drugs and their communities.
Umoja Health, Wellness and Justice Collective: This Buncombe County-based organization will embed culturally-humble harm reduction strategies into their substance use recovery support services by distributing harm reduction supplies, conducting harm reduction workshops, facilitating trauma-informed support groups, and providing crisis intervention in partnership with the Buncombe County Community Paramedicine and PORT teams.
Love and Respect Community for Recovery & Wellness: This Henderson County-based organization will educate, empower, and connect under-resourced and under-represented communities through street outreach and mobile harm reduction workshops, training people with lived experience to serve as mentors, multilingual overdose prevention education materials, and partnerships with local healthcare providers to expand access to medication and services.
The Place to Heal: This Lee County-based organization will expand their service provision area to reduce the risk of overdose, incarceration, and homelessness for people who use drugs.
Jubilee Home: This Durham County-based organization will open a transitional house for femme-identifying individuals returning to the community from prison. Residents will be assigned a certified peer support specialist (CPSS) and offered programming on somatic therapy, healthy relationships, financial literacy, and other life skills.
EMBRACE ALL LATINO VOICES: This Mecklenburg County-based organization will promote healthier communities aligned with harm reduction principles by integrating a comprehensive drug education curriculum into their programs for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking youth and launching media campaigns to reduce the stigma associated with drug use.
Center for Family Well-Being: This Hoke County-based organization will establish a community of practice and engagement (COPE) for people who used drugs and people in recovery that will focus on reducing stigma and bias, increasing harm reduction interventions, and improving equitable, trauma-informed systems and supports.
Expanding Justice: This Wake County-based organization will complete the filming of a documentary focused on reducing the stigma and judgment around opioid addiction and mental health in the Black community. Once the film is complete, they will partner with churches and community organizations to host screenings where doctors, substance use and mental health counselors, and community advocates will be present to share resources and information.
SeekHealing: This Buncombe County-based organization will reduce the risk of overdose among Black, Indigenous, and Latine individuals who are critically underserved by clinical services through intentional outreach among local community organizations, training of trauma-informed peer facilitators, and culturally-informed programs and workshops.
El Futuro: This Durham County-based organization will increase access to overdose prevention education and resources for Latine people who use drugs by developing bilingual overdose prevention materials, establishing partnerships with faith communities, training community health workers, and distributing harm reduction supplies.
United Katehnuaka Longhouse: This Robeson County-based organization will promote wellness within Indigenous communities through cultural revitalization programs, such as talking circles and language instruction, while distributing harm reduction supplies and informational brochures.
CORE Response: This Robeson County-based organization will implement a culturally-responsive harm reduction program through Indigenous cultural programming, youth harm reduction workshops, media campaigns, and harm reduction supply distribution.
The Wells Center: This Forsyth County-based organization will integrate harm reduction principles into their services for people who use drugs by distributing harm reduction supplies, implementing peer-led support groups, enhancing outreach to justice-involved women, and offering trauma-informed and culturally-responsive therapy.
Together for Resilient Youth: This Durham County-based organization will engage with the community to raise awareness about harm reduction, promote trauma-informed care practices, and advocate for supportive public health policies. They will also partner with local pharmacies, health centers, and community organizations to ensure naloxone kits are readily available to those in need.
The Black Coalition of Forensic Peer Support Specialists: This Mecklenburg County-based organization will promote recovery, reintegration, and wellness for individuals transitioning back into society post-incarceration by providing reentry planning, crisis intervention services, peer support, advocacy and resource navigation, and distribution of harm reduction supplies.
More Than Conquerors: This Forsyth County-based organization will equip Black, Indigenous, and Latine youth with the social and emotional skills necessary to overcome substance use challenges through culturally-informed programming, skill-building workshops, and mental health assessments and referrals.
Boys & Girls Club of Haliwa-Saponi Tribe: This Halifax County-based organization will engage youth in harm reduction education through mentorship, workshops on social media and internet safety, social and emotional skill building, and culturally-informed community and family events.
SEEDS of Healing: This New Hanover County-based organization will connect individuals who are vulnerable to the harmful effects of substance use and who traditionally underutilize the healthcare system with appropriate primary care medical homes and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD).
A Prospective New Day: This Guilford County-based organization will support formerly incarcerated people who use drugs by providing classes on substance use disorders, group therapy, and personal mentoring.
*Due to the political climate, not all grantees desired to be named publicly.
The map below illustrates how overdose deaths are impacting counties across North Carolina and where NC CPOP grantees are located. We look forward to the impact these organizations will have and are grateful to learn with them over the next year as we expand harm reduction as a tool to combat the overdose crisis. This grant will run from April 2025 through March 2026.
Who is Vital Strategies?
Vital Strategies is a global health organization dedicated to strengthening public health systems and reducing preventable deaths worldwide. Through its Overdose Prevention Program, Vital Strategies works to create equitable and sustainable reductions in overdose deaths by funding evidence-driven solutions that support and improve the health of people who use drugs. These grants aim to empower communities disproportionately impacted by the overdose crisis across North Carolina, to center their cultural practices within their approach to health and wellness, and to ensure they have the resources and support needed to drive sustainable change.
Who is Frontline Solutions?
Frontline Solutions is a Black-owned and Black-led consulting firm that helps organizations to plan, innovate, learn, and transform. Over the last 19 years, we have partnered with some of the United State’s most passionate grassroots advocates for social change and many of its largest foundations. Our team is as adept at helping movement organizers formalize organizational systems and practices as working with leaders of high-profile philanthropic institutions to navigate cultural shifts towards racial equity, trust-based and reparative grant-making, and community partnership.