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HCN's Community-Based Substance Use Prevention and Education Initiative : Entering Year Three !
- 28 minutes ago
- 3 min read
For many, substance use disorder is an all too familiar experience, present in the story of a relative who has struggled, a friend lost too soon, or a household that carries worry and fear. That truth is where HCN's Community-Based Substance Use Prevention and Education Initiative began, and as HCN enters its third year of this work in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, we remain focused on the people living these realities and the loved ones walking beside them. As we honor Substance Use Awareness month, we want to stay rooted in encouragement with the work being done while also holding that we have more work to do. As always, we invite you to join us on that journey.
Understanding Substance Use Disorder
The most important thing to understand about substance use disorder is that it is a health condition, and the people living with it deserve the same compassion and care we would offer anyone facing a serious illness, because recovery can happen when a person is met with support and dignity. That belief sits at the center of everything our campaign does, and it shapes how we share the information that follows, offered so that families across our community have what they need to recognize danger and respond to it with confidence.
What makes this work so urgent is the quiet nature of the danger itself, because fentanyl, a synthetic opioid many times stronger than heroin, now moves invisibly through the drug supply, pressed into counterfeit pills and blended into other substances in amounts that no one can see, smell, or taste, which means a young person who never intended to use an opioid can still swallow a fatal dose inside a pill that looks completely ordinary. Understanding how an overdose happens, and knowing how to respond when it does, is among the most protective forms of knowledge a parent, a friend, or a young person can hold.
For the families HCN walks alongside, these dangers rarely arrive on their own, since housing instability, family rejection, and the weight of trauma can each make a young person more vulnerable, and in a city where as many as 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQIA+, those pressures tend to fall hardest on the young people with the fewest safe places to turn. SUD Prevention and Education exists to meet them exactly there, pairing honest, culturally responsive information with care that sees the whole person and the whole life they are carrying.
Resources: We are here to support you and your loved ones
The Substance Use Prevention and Education Initiative brings all of this work into one place, and the campaign's resource hub is the fastest way to find what you or someone you love might need right now. Whether you are experience Substance Use Disorder, or are a parent trying to understand what your child is facing, the resources are built to meet you where you are and to move you toward help without barriers. If you have more questions or want to join the cause, reach out to us. Below you will find different ways you can stay involved in this work.
Request a Presentation with our team
Community presentations walk participants through the realities of substance use disorder in plain language and, just as importantly, teach people how to recognize an overdose and how to respond using Narcan. These sessions are practical, judgment free, and open to all. To request a presentation or a Narcan training, email us at sudclientreferrals@hcnkids.org.
Stay Informed: Sign Up for Our Newsletter
The best way to stay close to this work it is to hear from us directly. Our monthly newsletter is where we share what the SUD campaign is learning, where the next trainings are happening, and how the broader effort against substance use disorder is unfolding across San Francisco and beyond. You can sign up for the HCN newsletter here and stay informed as this third year of the initiative takes shape. Don't forget to follow us on social media for weekly information about our work.
We are grateful to be able to contineu this work in partnership with the SF Department of Public Healt and we are honored to be on this journey of healing alongside you.
