Meet Haley Coles of Sonoran Prevention Works in Central Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Coles.

Haley, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
There are few moments more humiliating than asking for help and being told that you don’t deserve it. That’s exactly what happened to me when I tried to buy syringes at a pharmacy in Phoenix in the early 2000’s. I was a teenager addicted to heroin, and I was going to inject drugs regardless of if I had a new syringe or a used one. After leaving that pharmacy, I cleaned out somebody else’s dull syringe as best I could and I used it.

Several years later, I learned that most major cities in the U.S. have needle exchange programs – places based on the theory of “harm reduction,” where people who inject drugs can obtain clean syringes and be accepted regardless of their drug use. My friends and I wondered what it would take to implement a program like that in Phoenix, and that was how Sonoran Prevention Works was born. Shortly thereafter I finished my degree in creative writing and then spent a few years living in Washington State working in Tacoma at the country’s oldest needle exchange. I saw that the issues facing people who inject drugs are social in nature, overlapping, and largely preventable despite an individual’s continued drug use.

I moved back to Phoenix in 2014 and went to work on building Sonoran Prevention Works with unyielding determination. Why should most other cities and states have programs that care about active drug users but not Phoenix? I banged on doors and pestered public health leaders to talk about harm reduction, overdose, and injection drug use until I was reluctantly included. I worked other jobs to make ends meet until I was able to make SPW my full-time job in January 2017, and it’s absolutely my dream come true.

I’m also working toward another dream, which is building a house on land outside of Globe, AZ! Eventually I’ll leave Phoenix for clearer night skies in the desert mountains, but for now I’m loving being in Phoenix.

Has it been a smooth road?
Most people cringe when I tell them what I do. I’ve come up against a ton of stigma, ignorance, and disgust from people who don’t understand why I’d want to fight alongside people who inject drugs for more equitable policies and conditions. They don’t see that the systemic barriers that prevent people who inject drugs from achieving optimal health are the same systems that perpetuate homelessness, poverty, violence, and isolation.

Although I have a ton of freedom as the Executive Director of a nonprofit that I co-founded, it’s freakin hard! This project was born out of young angst that nobody was doing anything, and suddenly we’re a legit organization with 6 staff and 2 offices! The growth happened pretty quickly, and instead of doing outreach on the streets, I’m spending most of my time writing grants, smoothing over political conflicts, and worrying about accounting, finances, and project management. But I can’t learn without jumping right into it, and I’m not afraid to make mistakes, which I’ve made plenty of. I’ve been incredibly privileged to have the support of my friends and colleagues for the past few years, which constantly reinvigorates and recommits me to this work.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Sonoran Prevention Works story. Tell us more about the business.
Sonoran Prevention Works is an advocate for people who use drugs. Our mission is to end health disparities faced by those made vulnerable by drug use in Arizona through harm reduction-focused education, advocacy, and evidence-based programming. We know that prevention and treatment are both invaluable, and we attempt to fill the gap in between those two pathways. Traditionally, many communities sweep active drug users under the rug if those people don’t want to stop using drugs. But beneath that rug is a bottomless pit filled with the risks of HIV, hepatitis C, incarceration, violence, humiliation, and overdose. By meeting people where they’re at, Sonoran Prevention Works fights with people for whom “rock bottom” and “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” are irrelevant.

We run the only statewide overdose prevention and naloxone distribution program. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is the overdose reversal medication. In 2017 we distributed over 28,000 free naloxone kits in Arizona to people who use drugs, their family members, behavioral health agencies, law enforcement, and other community members. We distributed in all 15 counties and on 8 reservations, and have received reports of 2,450 lives saved. We also partner with Shot In The Dark, a grassroots syringe access program, to provide sterile syringes and other supplies in West Phoenix.

In addition to our outreach and trainings, we also work on local and state policy. We helped advocate for a law that expanded access to naloxone, and are currently working on a bill that will officially sanction syringe access programs.

It’s not only our unique niche that sets us apart, but the fact that the majority of our staff and volunteers are people with personal experience with substance use, including family members. We are deeply connected to and invested in leveling the playing field for people impacted by substance use in Arizona, and that shows in our hiring and volunteer practices

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I’m not qualified enough to speak on the nonprofit industry as a whole, but I can talk about the harm reduction field. Although our work has been perceived as controversial in the past, there is much more support from conventional and even more conservative groups, such as law enforcement and drug treatment agencies. Every year new states are implementing policies that support people who use drugs, such as passing Good Samaritan 911 and syringe access laws. As government, public health, and families look for new solutions to address the persisting opioid crisis, I see the support for harm reduction continuing to flourish in the coming years.

Pricing:

• Naloxone kits & overdose prevention trainings – Free
• 1-3 hour trainings on harm reduction, medication assisted treatment, substance use disorder, and more – $100-200/hr

Contact Info:

• Address: 3201 N. 16th St., Suite 9
  Phoenix, AZ 85016
• Website: www.spwaz.org
• Phone: 480-442-7086
• Email: info@spwaz.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sonoranpreventionworksaz
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sonoranpreventionworks

 

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