Name
Sowing Seeds of Peace: Community Care in Harm Reduction
Date & Time
Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:45 AM - 9:30 AM
Location Name
Imperial Ballroom
Focus Area
Student-led, student-driven engagement and leadership
Session Type
Roundtable
Description

Sowing Seeds of Peace emerged from the barriers to community care in harm reduction, namely substance use and violence prevention spaces. Over-policing, surveillance, and mass incarceration all disproportionately impact People of Color who use substances, and alternatives rooted in community care like peer assisted recovery are not equally accessible for individuals. Indigenous practices of healing have been colonized, along with community and land, which are intimately intertwined. Community programs like gardening in this case, or safe-use syringe sites around DC, are necessary to provide a safe space centered around care rather than stigma. The workshop will explore themes of resiliency, connection to place, and mutual aid through discussion to nurture both ourselves and the Earth. Attendees will walk through the steps of sowing their own seeds as a small piece of grounded-ness amidst our DC landscape, and support agency that stems from tending to your own harvest.