SAFE Coalition's Harm Reduction team won the first-ever Program Achievement Award for their ongoing efforts to serve the MetroWest community with lifesaving care.
The award was presented by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services to recognize the team’s major contributions to the state’s harm reduction services.
SAFE’s team of three, led by Director of Harm Reduction Sarah Fleming along with Harm Reduction Coordinator Amy Young-Sadler and Harm Reduction Clinician Stephanie Nunes, was chosen for recognition from over 200 harm reduction and post-overdose outreach programs actively operating across Massachusetts.
 |
| Photo, Brittni Riley at DPH along with Sarah Fleming, Stephanie Nunes, and Amy Young-Sadler of SAFE Coalition |
The team was recognized for their success in migrating their outreach program from Justice Resource Institute to SAFE Coalition in Fall 2025. When their program faced the threat of closure, Fleming and her team worked closely with DPH to secure a move to Franklin-based SAFE without compromising service quality for their clients.
“We’re fortunate to live and work in a state that supports harm reduction efforts as much as it does,” says Fleming. “What has always uplifted my team is that no matter what the funding landscape looks like, harm reduction always finds a way. We remembered that harm reduction was a practice that started in rebellion and riots, continued underground, and often exists without any funding at all. Fortunately, there are true harm reductionists in our state leadership and in DPH who understand the need on the ground right now, and we are grateful for that support.”
SAFE's harm reduction team currently serves 105 clients from the towns of Framingham, Marlborough, Hudson, and Natick with non-judgmental, stigma-free support, from arranging safe rides to medical and court appointments to wellness checks, court advocacy, housing support, Narcan distribution, syringe exchange and more. Incredibly, the team provides all support by phone and in person, operating entirely in the field.
Harm reduction accepts behavior change as an incremental process rather than a single and instantaneous act. By treating people experiencing addiction with dignity and providing practical, life-saving tools to keep them alive and healthy, harm reduction seeks to minimize the negative physical and social consequences of drug use without requiring abstinence. These measures are proven to save lives and connect people to treatment without increasing drug use or crime.
“Harm reduction works because it meets people where they are, and it treats them with the dignity they deserve, says SAFE CEO Jen Knight-Levine. "When we do this work in MetroWest, it sends a message that no one in our community is invisible. No one needs to go somewhere else to get help.”
For Fleming, the award offers an opportunity to draw attention to the way stigma imposes limits on the way we see people who use drugs. “Harm reduction is a reminder to everyone that people who use drugs can still be incredibly skilled and have much to contribute,” she says. “I never forget that the first responders to an overdose are most often actually people who use drugs. They are far more knowledgeable and capable than the system gives them credit for, and they should always have a seat at the table.”
ABOUT SAFE
SAFE Coalition serves over 50 communities in Massachusetts with substance use and mental health services that close current gaps in care. With programs for teens, support groups for families impacted by substance use, recovery groups, harm reduction education, resources for families in need like a community diaper bank, housing support, and more, SAFE’s services are judgement-free and cost-free to all.SAFE began in 2015 following a community discussion on the increasing impact of opioid addiction in southeastern Massachusetts. Today, with locations in Franklin and Springfield and mobile services across the state, SAFE works with first responders, local and state politicians, municipalities, schools, other nonprofits, and concerned citizens to offer substance use and mental health prevention, early intervention, harm reduction, and recovery support, wherever it is needed most.To learn more about SAFE Coalition, contact us at (508) 488-8105 or info@safecoalitionma.org
