Thank you for your interest in volunteering with SHRS!
At Southside, we are always welcoming volunteers who care about the health and autonomy of people who use drugs, and we offer a variety of one-time, short-term, and long-term volunteer roles. Southside began as a volunteer-run organization, and we would truly not exist without volunteers who share their time and wisdom and help us nurture relationships in our community.
We recognize that harm reduction has existed for as long as marginalized people– including those who use drugs, do sex work, have HIV/AIDs, and particularly those who are BIPOC– have helped keep one another safe. While it has recently become a public health initiative, it is, first and foremost, a movement led by people who use drugs and a practice of collective love and care.
On an individual level, we believe harm reduction means meeting people where they are and respecting that everyone should have autonomy over their bodies and choices. Folx use drugs for countless reasons, and while risk cannot be prevented entirely, it can be reduced. On a broader scale, harm reduction means demolishing violent systems like colonization, the racist so-called War on Drugs, and the prison-industrial complex while nurturing opportunities for land back, reparations, healing, and connection in their place.
If you are passionate about harm reduction and want to be involved with Southside, take a look at our current volunteer roles and expectations listed below. Roles are numbered based on different levels of commitment and training required, not their importance (every role is just as needed and appreciated).
If you feel like there might be a good fit, attend our next new volunteer info session by filling out the volunteer application form linked at the bottom of the page.
The next new volunteer info session is: March 14 from 5:30pm-7:30pm via zoom.
Low Commitment + Less Training Required
Saturday Community Clean Up
Join us every other Saturday from 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. for community cleanup! Not only do we pick up syringe litter during these cleanups, but we also talk about harm reduction and reducing stigma. This is one of the simplest ways to get involved with Southside, whether or not you’re looking for a one-time commitment or plan to keep coming back. Get involved as your schedule allows; come as you are and see if it’s a good fit. Cleanup occurs spring-fall, and the location depends on current needs.
If you don’t see dates available on the sign up calendar, it is either because we are on hiatus for the winter or all the spots are full. Training on syringe safety is provided at the start of the shift, and gloves/trash grabbers/biohazard containers will be provided. Please wear closed-toe shoes.
At Home Kit Packing
At Southside, we provide our participants with safe-use supplies. We pack many of these supplies in advance and can always use extra support. Cottons (used as filters for drawing up a shot into a syringe) and foils (used for smoking) are two supplies that always need pre-packing into smaller bags for distribution. In addition, packing kits, such as safer snorting and booty bumping kits, might seem like a smaller task, but it is a huge help. If you are interested in at-home kit packing, we will arrange to get you the information and supplies you’ll need to pack these items and return them to us in a 1-2 week turnaround time.
Medium Commitment + More Training Required
Co-leading Saturday Community Clean Up
Join our team to help lead Saturday cleanup sessions! Not only is this a great way to meet new people and get hyped about harm reduction, but it’s also a meaningful way to help SHRS strengthen community relationships essential for our future goal of opening a drop-in center (and hopefully an overdose prevention site someday, too!).
Expectations Include:
- Commitment of at least 1 shift per month
- Possession of a working cell phone (at least for duration of shift for safety purposes)
- Showing up on time
- Alertness during your shift (If you want to be here but you aren’t able to facilitate risk assessment, group safety protocols and street navigation during the shift, join us as a non-lead volunteer instead)
- Following SHRS community agreements
Training Includes:
- Attending at least two Saturday cleanups
- Reading materials
- Reviewing SHRS community agreements
- Safety information
- Narcan training
- Working with volunteer coordinator to ensure you feel comfortable talking about harm reduction and the supplies/services SHRS offers
Responsibilities Include:
- Sharing safety information with volunteers
- Leading volunteers safely along predetermined route
- Answering questions about harm reduction from neighbors and volunteers to the best of your ability
- Communicating with co-leads via Signal group chat about attendance, route planning and transport of supplies
- Helping ensure cleanup supplies/sharps containers get to and from our office in Phillips
- Data entry to document number of syringes collected
Tabling
Southside is frequently invited to community events and concerts to hand out naloxone, test strips, safe sex, and harm-reduction supplies. In addition to handing out supplies, those who table must be able to provide education about our work, give on-the-spot naloxone training, and sell merchandise.
Expectations Include:
- Possession of a working cell phone (at least for duration of shift for safety purposes)
- Showing up on time
- Following SHRS community agreements
- Interacting with community members respectfully
Training Includes:
- Shadowing 2+ tabling events
- Reading materials
- Reviewing SHRS community agreements
- Safety information
- Narcan and test-strip training
- Working with volunteer coordinator to ensure you feel comfortable talking about harm reduction and the supplies/services SHRS offers
Responsibilities Include:
- Working at Southside booths or tables at community events as your schedule allows (you will be with another person, not on your own)
- Communicating with tabling/fundraising team about attendance
- Helping coordinate transport of tabling supplies to and from the event
- Upholding SHRS community and safety agreements
- Representing Southside to the best of your ability
- Answering questions to the best of your ability
- Distributing available literature and harm reduction supplies
- Teaching folx how to use the test strips and narcan if needed
- Recording inventory of supplies before and after event
- Supporting staff in merchandise sales
High Commitment + Most Training Required
Outreach and deliveries are two key ways we connect with participants and get folx connected to harm reduction supplies and resources.
We are accepting outreach and delivery volunteers on an as-needed basis. The nature of these direct service roles, which include working directly with people who use drugs and may be experiencing houselessness, requires the most vetting, training, and commitment. Outreach and deliveries require a minimum of 2 shifts/month. Having lived experience is helpful but not required.
Folx involved in outreach and deliveries must show up humbly with willingness to learn, be committed to using de-stigmatizing language, and must feel comfortable having candid conversations about drug use/trauma/HIV/safe sex practices. To protect the relationships we’ve built and our participants themselves, it is our duty to ensure the outreach/delivery role is a good fit for you. If, for some reason, we feel it is not, we will work with you to find a role that is better suited.
Be advised that doing outreach and deliveries comes with the risk of experiencing second-hand trauma during your shift. Self-care and mental health are vital to safety and being able to show up in a meaningful way, so please take care to assess your personal needs, capacity, and boundaries.
The following descriptions are brief overviews of the roles. Our outreach and delivery handbooks will provide more detailed information that will be available to you once you begin your training.
Deliveries
Mobile harm reduction deliveries are an important way to get supplies to folx who might not have access to other syringe exchanges in Minneapolis.
SHRS deliveries are unlike food delivery services, where you drop an order at the door and leave. Participants will meet us at the trunk of the car and choose what supplies they want on site, which is an opportunity for conversation and education sharing (from volunteers to participants and vice versa).
No delivery shift is the same, so a willingness to be flexible and patient during your shift is essential, as are strong communication skills and an eagerness to learn and share about harm reduction.
Deliveries occur Monday-Wednesday from roughly 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
There is a need for both drivers with cars and ride-along buddies. Gas stipends are available for those who drive.
Expectations Include:
- Minimum commitment of 2 shifts/month and attendance at quarterly meetings
- Possession of a working smart phone (at minimum, 1 person per car must have access to certain phone apps with reliable cell coverage)
- (If you are the driver) Current driver’s license and car insurance
- Attendance at quarterly meetings and All-Southside meetings whenever possible
- Showing up on time
- Communication w/deliveries team before and during your shift
- Ability to administer narcan
- Respectful, non-judgemental attitude and use of destigmatising language
- Flexibility and patience during your shift
- Maintaining participant confidentiality
- Following SHRS community agreement
- Ability to attend Southside meetings monthly
Training Includes:
- Reading materials
- Reviewing SHRS community agreements
- Narcan training
- Kit packing sessions
- Shadow shifts
Responsibilities Include:
- Signing up for shifts online and communicating with the deliveries group chats on Signal before and during your shift
- Helping pack supply carts
- Maintaining your assigned list of deliveries stops (including route planning and texting participants with time estimates, etc)
- Packing harm reduction supplies
- Making delivery stops (including talking with participants, answering questions, helping them choose supplies, etc)
- Recording data
Outreach
Street outreach in south Minneapolis is one of the most important ways we build relationships and strengthen support networks with our unhoused relations. We offer harm reduction and hygiene supplies, snacks and beverages, and resources for getting connected to care or upcoming events during outreach.
Outreach includes both mobile street outreach, where we pull our supplies in carts and meet with folx where they are at, and popups, where we set up tables in specific areas and folx come to us. Some popup events offer HIV testing and services from other partner organizations, such as vaccines or wound care.
Mobile street outreach occurs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday from approx. 1:30 pm-4 pm.
Expectations Include:
- Minimum commitment of 2 shifts/month and attendance at quarterly meetings
- Showing up on time
- Alertness during your shift
- Taking safety seriously
- Ability to administer narcan if needed
- Maintaining participant confidentiality
- Willingness to accept feedback
- Following SHRS community agreements
- Ability to attend Southside meetings monthly
Training Includes:
- Reading materials
- Reviewing SHRS community agreements and etiquette for visiting encampments
- Narcan training
- Kit packing sessions
- Shadow shifts
Responsibilities Include:
- Communicating about shifts via Signal group chat
- Helping pack supply carts
- Pre- and post-shift group check-ins
- Specific duty during outreach (decided at the start of each shift, including handing out harm reduction supplies, snack/hygiene cart, syringe cleanup, participant education/linking people to care).
- Answering questions that neighbors may have about harm reduction (to the best of your ability)
- Maintaining clear boundaries with participants
- Attending monthly outreach meeting
See something that seem’s like a good fit?
Please fill out our Volunteer Application Form after reading through all the roles and expectations, and someone will reach out to you soon with an invite to the next info session.