How'd you do? I see you've met my...

faithful prevention man
He's just a little brought down
because when you knocked
he thought you were the condom man.
Don't get strung out
by the way I look
don't judge a book by it's cover
I may be a nerd by the light of day
but trust me, I'm one hell of a harm reduction educator...
(All apologies to Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Hi! I'm Heidi! I consider myself a harm reduction educator, as opposed to a prevention specialist, because I don't feel I personally actually prevent anything. Trust me, you will never find me in your bedroom screaming "Put a condom on!" or "Use a new syringe!" (and probably you wouldn't want me there anyway). Instead, I educate people about the many "tools"at their disposal to allow them to protect themselves from infection in nearly every given sexual and drug using situation.

I've been doing this for 11 years now and I focus my outreach and education to people with drug and alcohol issues. Sometimes I'm providing education and testing to people in recovery at drug treatment centers, other times I'm providing such services to people incarcerated in our correctional system. Most often, I'm providing education and supplies to active drug users through our needle exchange program. I feel every person has worth, and is worthy of being allowed the opportunity to live their lives in the healthiest way possible for them, no matter what they are doing or what their situation is.

The main principals that drive what I do, and how I do it are the "Harm Reduction Principals":

• everyone has the right to make choices for themselves-I will not judge anyone regarding the choices they make for themselves
• any reduction in harm is a move in the right direction
• everyone engages in risky behavior for reasons that make, or that have made, sense to them - I will not judge reasoning, but will listen and support them in exploring the things in their lives that lead to them taking risks(i.e. emotional/physical pain, seeking perceived normalcy, etc.)
• there are as many harm reduction plans as there are people
  
• we are all here to improve the quality of our lives and well being, success is not measured by abstinence, but by improved health, improved relationships, job satisfaction and performance, better self esteem, improved legal status, decrease in crime, etc.
• you are the only one that is responsible for making (or not making) positive changes in your life
• you are the expert in the knowledge of what you need to change and the direction that change takes
• concentrating on strengths rather than shortcomings will breed more success
• I can assist a peer at looking at options - however I respect the fact that each person has to decide what works best for them in any given situation
• change happens in small steps - we will celebrate every positive "baby step" towards change
  

Keep coming back to find out what's happening with the AIDS Network prevention team, what's happening in the prevention world in general AND to get your questions answered!!!