Needlepoint Sanctuary was founded in 2018 by drug users as a response to the ongoing so-called opioid epidemic. Recognizing that current policies were failing and in many cases harming those impacted by the crisis, we took to the streets with a a peer-led model of syringe services intent on pursuing policy changes and serving the people where they were at.
We were so successful that now we have our very own website.
Our Vision
We try to spend as little time as possible engaged in the public realm of debate about the validity of syringe service programs and prioritize our energies in providing effective and compassionate care to those we work closely with. We believe that the benefits of Syringe Service Programs should not be up for debate. When programs like ours are engaged in debates about the effectiveness and validity of our services, what we are going up against is stigma directed towards drug users and nearly 100 years of drug-war propaganda that has to criminalize drug use, and allow the state to intervene in communities impacted by poverty, in particular marginalized communities such as black communities and tribal nations.
We seek world in which the meaning of the word sanctuary is realized: we recognize that this is subjective and perhaps idealistic. To realize this world, we are willing to fight for it: and we do so through our provision of services to those who need them, and in our orientation towards those who are against them.
To be broad, we believe a better world is not only possible, but is a necessity.
To be specific, our vision is one in which harm reduction practices and Syringe Service Programs are accepted, supported, and recognized as an integral and needed component of any public health policy, at all levels.