Executive Summary

Project Weber/RENEW believes in the power of peers to end the overdose epidemic. The organization is led by people with experience of drug use, sex work, involvement in the justice system, and lack of housing working together to provide resources and opportunities for individuals in Rhode Island experiencing similar circumstances. Project Weber/RENEW sees harm reduction as fundamentally about helping people stay alive, prevent overdoses, and keep themselves and their communities safer. The organization works from the vision that all people deserve a loving space free from judgment and that everyone has the power to change.

Project Weber/RENEW’s staff “meets people where they’re at,” providing no-barrier services and care for individuals to support their self-determined goals, whether that be recovery, utilizing safer drug use supplies, addressing medical needs, or simply having a place to feel safe. This approach, in which clients’ autonomy and visions for their own success are centered, is rare and vital. Project Weber/RENEW also amplifies the voices of people experiencing inequities in order to transform systems that cause harm. This includes fighting the disproportionate impact of drug criminalization on Black and brown communities and advocating for legislation that made Rhode Island the first state to authorize overdose prevention centers. Project Weber/RENEW will open the first state-regulated center in 2024, adding supervised consumption of pre-obtained drugs as an offering to clients. Peer staff operating the center will be trained to spot and reverse overdoses that would otherwise prove fatal.

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