2023 Annual Impact Report
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our Values
- Transformation
- Equity
- Collaboration
- People Who Use Drugs-Centered
5 year strategic goals
2022-2026
Solidify SPW’s position as the go-to for harm reduction content expertise in Arizona
Expand the network of Harm Reduction Healthcare Providers
Build mechanisms and relationships for equitable community engagement and accountability
Create organizational climate that supports equity, retention, and authenticity
Establish harm-reduction centered data tools to more effectively serve PWUD and communicate our impact
Celebrating a Year of Triumphs: Sonoran Prevention Works’ Impact in 2023
In 2023, Sonoran Prevention Works (SPW) remained the largest community distributor of naloxone in the United States, propelled by the incredible backing of our community champions. With a focus on our Syringe Service Programs (SSPs), SPW provided an extensive array of services and became a beacon of hope through victories and transformative initiatives.
A standout success was the increased fixed SSP sites, not just as service hubs but as vibrant community spaces fostering belonging and relationships. These sites ensure stable and predictable harm reduction services, creating a ripple effect of positive outcomes. The strategic partnerships forged, including the impactful collaboration with AZ Liver/VEN Centers, showcased our triumphs in immediate testing and treatment interventions, marking a significant win in the battle against HIV and hepatitis C.
Responding to the needs of our diverse community, SPW fulfilled mail-based requests across all 15 Arizona counties and 6 tribal nations, delivering vital supplies. Participant surveys resonated with our commitment, citing discreet access and a sense of community responsibility as driving motivators. The Cochise Project, spearheading systems change in Cochise County, ventured into uncharted territories, establishing crucial partnerships, increasing naloxone availability, and championing harm reduction practices in rural spaces.
Our victories are a testament to the power of collaboration, with the unwavering support of our volunteers and donors. Thousands of harm reduction kits assembled and dollars raised underscore our continued community involvement, demonstrating that together, we are a force for positive change.
The Systems Navigation Program, embracing innovative approaches like a virtual classroom, conducted diverse training sessions, empowering individuals and organizations to fortify harm reduction infrastructure.
In the tapestry of 2023, SPW’s commitment to education, outreach, and community empowerment shines brightly, highlighting our dedication to Arizona’s harm reduction, unwavering community support, and transformative systems change. As we celebrate the triumphs of 2023, we look forward to building upon this momentum in the year ahead, making strides toward a healthier, empowered, and resilient community.
2023 Numbers
166,494
naloxone doses
4,420
overdoses reversed
52,429
kits distributed
12,272
Outreach encounters
Our departments
Within Sonoran Prevention Works (SPW), our departments form a structure that collaborates to actualize our mission: to build a healthy Arizona with people who use drugs.
We work on this mission across AZ from the micro to the macro level. Here is how our departments each support that mission:
Administration: The Backbone
Systems Change Department: The Catalyst
Outreach Department: The Beacon
Our Outreach Department acts as the beacon that guides community members into our organization. Outreach efforts shine a light on SPW’s services, values, and goals, attracting people in the community who need our services and meeting them where they are while also creating healthy outcomes throughout AZ at the micro level.
A standout success was increasing our fixed SSP sites across the state, collaborating with a variety of partners to provide harm reduction supplies in parking lots, laundromats, treatment centers, and more. These sites act not only as resource hubs but as vibrant community spaces fostering belonging and relationships. These sites ensure stable and predictable harm reduction services, creating a ripple effect of positive outcomes for people who use drugs and the community at large.
Through the strategic partnerships forged, including our impactful collaboration with AZ Liver/VEN Centers, we saw outcomes including immediate HIV & Hepatitis C testing and treatment interventions. Our Outreach staff work throughout the state to bridge the gap between SPW and our stakeholders, illuminating paths of community connection and support, and creating healthy outcomes.
Outreach Department
Syringe Service Program (SSP):
The Syringe Service Program (SSP) is dedicated to providing a diverse array of supportive services for people who use drugs in Arizona. The support we offer includes:
- Rapid screening and confirmatory testing for HIV and hepatitis C (HCV)
- Naloxone distribution with overdose prevention education
- Harm reduction supplies distribution, including injecting & smoking supplies
- Referrals to outside support
- On-site medical support, medication for opioid use disorder, showers, food, and more, depending on the location
The focus for 2023 was on increasing and solidifying fixed SSP sites, which act as crucial hubs for delivering vital harm reduction services. The focus on creating these fixed sites has allowed us to offer our resources at consistent times and locations to provide more stability and predictability within the community. These fixed sites have allowed us to encourage and foster more community belonging, stronger relationships, and better outcomes.
Our availability to the community grew in 2023 – we now offer resources six days a week at 19 locations across the state. Collaborations with partner organizations across AZ showcase our commitment to expanding our reach and impact.
- 12,272 engagements, with 7,786 unique individuals
- 52,429 kits distributed
Testing:
Our Testers offer rapid HIV and hepatitis C screening and confirmatory testing at many of our fixed SSP sites, as well as with our partner SSPs and at special events in Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, and Cochise counties. This strategic approach reduces barriers for folks who don’t want to deal with the conventional medical-industrial complex to learn about their status or who cannot make it to one more appointment.
A standout success in 2023 was our partnership with AZ Liver/VEN Centers at our SSPs and testing sites in Maricopa County. This collaboration allows people who test positive to get started immediately on hepatitis C treatment, PEP, or PrEP. We look forward to implementing more wraparound testing & treatment services like this in 2024!
- Rapid tests conducted: 1832
- Reactive screenings: 122
- Linked to care: 77 (63% of reactive results followed up)
- Blood draws by SPW: 58
- Referrals for PEP/PrEP: 320
Systems Change Department
The Systems Change Department (SCD) houses our Systems Navigation Program and the Cochise Project.
The Systems Navigation Program focuses on strengthening harm reduction infrastructure and capacity among people who use drugs and the organizations who seek to support them better. Our team develops education and conducts training and workshops with people who use drugs (PWUD) and with organizations who want to do better. By working together, this team creates a feedback loop, informing each other about the reality of the experiences of PWUD and allowing us to train providers with that real-time input. This ensures that systems negatively impacting PWUD can evolve positively through training and education across Arizona.
In 2023, the Systems Navigation Program launched a new virtual classroom, built and delivered 4 trainings in Spanish, and conducted trainings for the public, providers, and people who use drugs, including:
- Overdose Prevention, Recognition, and Response
- A 16-hour Harm Reduction Certification
- Xylazine
- Perinatal Harm Reduction
- Harm reduction education groups in intensive outpatient settings and in probation
- Train-the-trainer version of SPW’s Overdose, Prevention, and Response training
The Cochise Project is focused on making systems change with many diverse partners in Cochise County to strengthen outcomes for people who use drugs and those who love them. Through these partnerships, the Cochise Project has supported organizations like the Cochise Harm Reduction Project, medical providers, emergency service providers, and the county health department to support the needs of people who use drugs (PWUD) better. We have been able to increase our reach to areas of Cochise County that SPW has never had a presence in, such as Wilcox, Bowie, Benson, and St. David, create allies to learn best practices for rural spaces, make literature for specialized groups of PWUD, and support contractors throughout the area to increase the presence of harm reduction. These partnerships have been incorporated into services where SPW established a data-sharing relationship with Benson Hospital and provided technical assistance and resources to support them in beginning induction for Buprenorphine at their emergency department. This is particularly important for Benson’s rural areas, as it is considered a Critical Access Hospital. We have established a relationship of communication with the Cochise County jail and have been able to significantly increase the quantity of naloxone available in the entire county through our professional partnerships and community partnerships with secondary distributors.
4162
Training & Workshop Topics
- Overdose Prevention
- Fentanyl
- Stimulants
- Harm Reduction in Tribal Communities
- HIV/HCV 101
- Healthy Emotional Regulation
- Xylazine
- Youth Overdose Prevention
- Building Successful Syringe Service Programs
- Perinatal Harm Reduction
- History of Criminalization
Harm Reduction By Mail
Of all the strategies that SPW uses to combat fatal overdose in AZ, distributing naloxone for free to the public is the strategy with the most potential to directly reduce overdose death rates. This remains a critical work focus for SPW programming.
During 2023, we fulfilled 2,179 requests for mail-based supply distribution from individuals in all 15 of Arizona’s counties, as well as from 6 tribal nations. In total, 9,098 naloxone kits and 5,261 fentanyl testing strips were distributed by mail. Multiple evaluation surveys have consistently demonstrated the program’s high value to the people who use it. When asked why they decided to use the program, participants most frequently answered either that they were not aware of free public access naloxone near them or that they wanted to be able to request supplies discreetly. Other common reasons included loving or caring for a person who uses drugs and feeling a sense of social or community responsibility around overdose response preparedness.
Mail-based harm reduction supply distribution is a highly accessible way for us to reach Arizonans who use drugs who are not able to visit syringe access programs in person. Receiving naloxone and other supplies at home allows our participants not only to stay safer in the short term but also to learn more about other SPW offerings, including HIV & HCV screening, referrals to treatment if requested, systems navigation assistance, & educational training on various harm reduction topics. Any of these points of entry could prove to reduce harms among people who use drugs, whether directly or indirectly due to the gradual destigmatization of drug use and overdose risk among the broader community.
At the end of July, we made the difficult decision to put our HRBM program on hold temporarily when it became clear that demand for the service far exceeded our ability to fulfill requests as promptly as our participants deserve. We have since been working hard to retool the program to strategically prioritize the people for whom it is most crucial, including folks in Arizona counties where SPW does not currently have staff working on the ground, people with accessibility and/or transportation barriers, and those who have full-time caregiver duties which prevent them from visiting one of our outreach sites. We anticipate HRBM to relaunch in April 2024.
Naloxone Distribution Across All Programs
- Number of naloxone doses distributed in 2023 = 166,494
- Percentage of naloxone doses distributed directly to PWUD = 87%
- Number of reported overdose reversals in 2023 = 4,420
- Naloxone to reported overdose reversal ratio for 2023 = 19
Volunteers
SPW started as a volunteer-led organization back in 2010. Our volunteers show up for our community with compassion, spending long nights by our side handing out supplies and making direct connections with folks. They show empathy when they share their lived experiences with their peers. Our comrades embody generosity when they give communities their time, thought, and energy. Here are just some of the accomplishments of our volunteers last year:
Kits assembled by volunteers:
124,984 harm reduction kits
About 30% of naloxone or outreach kits were made by volunteers who hosted their own kit parties with their communities. Want to host one and make a difference? Check our instructions and reach out!
Volunteers hired: 2 volunteers hired in 2023, 11 hired since 2021
Hours donated: 6,636 hours
- Hours on outreach/testing: 1,727 hours
- Hours making kits: 3,817 hours
- Hours on other activities: 1,092 hours
Supporter party
Superstars:
Volunteer of the year: Keyana Stokes
Rural Rockstar:
Miranda Hyslop-Garza
54 hours
Top Kit-Maker
Diane VanMaanen
10,200 kits & 373 hours
Outreach Superstar:
Heidi Inskeep
103 hours
Tester Extraordinaire:
Lee-Ann Dunton
108 hours, 30 tests
With the support of our community, Sonoran Prevention Works continues to be the largest community distributor of naloxone in the United States.
As the overdose epidemic continues to evolve, so too has our response. In 2023 we supported our programs with grants, contracts, in-kind donations, and financial contributions from our dedicated community of donors. From local businesses to individual donors across Arizona, we continue to be supported by our incredible and caring community, and it means so much to us.
Based on our experience last year, we anticipate needing $220,000 in 2024 to provide the harm reduction supplies and programming people deserve adequately. Last year, our donors generously provided $180,000. But the number of community members needing testing, supplies, support, and naloxone outpaced those available funds. Annual fund contributions are our main funding source for many of the safer-use supplies we provide – including sterile syringes. We MUST meet the need to keep our communities as safe and healthy as possible, so we have set the annual fund goal to $220,000 this year to serve our community’s needs better.
Will you be able to help us meet this need in 2024?
We would love to talk with you about the ways that you (and your uncle and your favorite high school teacher and your dentist) can support this critical public health work. From taking advantage of Arizona’s tax credit to monthly contributions to program or event sponsorships, there are so many options to become part of the harm reduction work that SPW does throughout AZ. Our Development Manager, Jess Patrick can be reached at [email protected] or you can make contributions at spwaz.org/donate
International Overdose Awareness Day
International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is held annually on August 31st as a time for the community to address one of our most pressing social justice and public health challenges.
With a focus on raising general awareness about overdose and promoting overdose prevention, IOAD is a beacon of hope for affected individuals and their loved ones.
At the event held in Phoenix this year, Executive Director, Haley Coles, had this to say to the crowd:
“For some of us, this is a day we look forward to – to be in community with those who have been through what we’ve been through. For others, it’s a day we avoid thinking about because the pain is too heavy. And for most of us, it’s a bit of both. I want you to know that every single person here has been impacted by overdose death. We are infuriated, devastated, and committed. You are not alone.”
SPW will continue to be here with our community, fighting for people who use drugs and their loved ones. Mark your calendar now for this year’s event on Saturday, August 31.
Our Financials
2023 Revenue
2023 Revenue
2023 Expenses
In 2024 we will continue to need your support. Our fundraising goal for 2024 is $220,000.
There’s no way we could have done this work without community support. While we are eternally grateful for our government contracts which fund the bulk of our work, they can come with major restrictions – one of the biggest gaps is in funding for syringes, pipes, food, and several other crucial & life-saving resources. All of these supplies are purchased through the generosity of our donors & community foundations. We truly depend on your support.
Please consider contributing to help us reach as many community members as possible with the right resources in 2024. Learn more at spwaz.org/donate
