NHRC's 30th Anniversary Community Celebration and Fundraiser at El Rio

Thirty years of harm reduction calls for a proper celebration, and there’s no better place to do it than San Francisco, a city that has shaped and been shaped by this movement.

Join the National Harm Reduction Coalition on Friday, April 10, 2026, from 5–9 pm at El Rio in San Francisco's Mission District for a joyful, community-centered evening honoring three decades of courage, care, and collective action. 

Honoring the leaders who built this movement

This celebration will honor NHRC’s West Coast founders and the original Harm Reduction Working Group members, whose leadership helped build NHRC and this movement from the ground up:

We will also uplift three community heroes whose courage, care, and commitment continue to shape harm reduction today:

Why this moment matters

This milestone comes at a critical moment. Harm reduction is under attack. Immigrants, Black and Brown communities, people who are unstably housed, sex workers, and people who use drugs, our friends, our families, and our communities, are under threat. Frontline workers are being asked to do more with far less.

Reaching 30 years is not just an anniversary. It is a recommitment.
A recommitment to saving lives when systems fail.
A recommitment to showing up for one another.

We hope you will join us on April 10, not only to celebrate, but to recommit. Because now more than ever, the next 30 years of this work depend on all of us.

What to expect

This celebration will bring together founders, frontline workers, community partners, artists, advocates, and supporters to reflect on where we have been and invest in where we are going.

Expect a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere filled with good food, music, storytelling, and connection. Together, we will celebrate the people and movements that have shaped harm reduction over the past 30 years and build momentum for the next 30.

The evening will be emceed by San Francisco’s Bay Area Narcan Queen, Kochina Rude, with irresistible rhythms by Banda Sin Nombre. Allan Clear will deliver the keynote address, and the program will feature a screening of Love is the Drug, which tells the story of Heather Edney’s drug user organizing as founder of the Santa Cruz Needle Exchange in the 1990s, followed by a brief Q and A.

Tickets & Accessibility 

This is a celebration, and it is also a fundraiser and a moment of collective commitment. Your ticket fuels NHRC’s lifesaving and life-affirming work nationwide, advancing overdose prevention and education, peer leadership, training and technical assistance, organizational capacity building, advocacy, and systems change. Your support helps ensure this work continues for generations to come.

Tickets are offered on a sliding scale to support accessibility. If you’re able, we invite you to choose the highest level that feels comfortable.

$100 – Equity Level

$75 – Sustainer Level

$50 – Community Level

To help make this event accessible, a limited number of free tickets are available for members of the communities we serve. Please email Mike at pomante@harmreduction.org for more information about availability.

Guests will enjoy:

• Delicious food and a complimentary drink

• Music and special performances

• A photo moment to capture the night

• Opportunities to connect, contribute, and celebrate together

Sponsorship opportunities

Sponsorships start at $2,500 and help sustain NHRC's work while underwriting a limited number of free tickets for the communities we serve every day. 

👉 Explore sponsorship opportunities and benefits HERE. 

Come as you are. Bring a friend. We can’t wait to celebrate with you. 💙