Faith and Risk Reduction
At SOOAR, we strive to live by the teachings and example of Jesus. We believe each person is deeply valuable and loved—no matter their background or journey. One way we put this into action is through offering harm reduction services. We know judgment and stigma inflict harm. We want instead to provide hope, compassion, and practical support—especially to people who use drugs or are involved in sex work.
What is faith and risk reduction?
This video explores how faith communities and people directly impacted by drug use and sex work can come together to build a justice movement. It highlights the care practices that center harm reduction, offering healing and connection across diverse communities featuring content from the National Harm Reduction Coalition.
Why combine faith and risk reduction?
Faith in Risk Reduction Toolkit
Faith and risk reduction intersect because both are grounded in love, dignity, and compassion. Faith calls us to see the sacred worth of every person, no matter their struggles. Risk reduction puts that belief into practice by meeting people where they are, reducing the harms of substance use, and creating safer, healthier paths forward.
When faith communities embrace risk reduction, they become places of radical welcome—offering nonjudgment, healing, and hope to people too often pushed to the margins.
Together, faith and risk reduction remind us that saving lives, easing suffering, and walking alongside our neighbors is holy work.
Please watch "Faith and Risk Reduction" with Rev. Dr. John Duckworth
Faith in harm reduction: The true meaning of “All God’s Children”.
"Where faith and risk reduction meet to create the movement for justice with people who use drugs." National Harm Reduction Coalition
In 2020, SOOAR partnered with MDHHS, Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, and community agencies to launch the Western Wayne Risk Reduction Initiative. This work builds bridges between public health and faith communities to develop leadership, strengthen advocacy, and create environments that support risk-reduction practices.
Risk reduction is a spectrum of strategies—from safer use and managed use to abstinence—meeting people where they are and addressing not only substance use but also the conditions surrounding it. At its core, it is about seeing the full humanity and dignity of people too often stigmatized or discarded.
Faith in Risk Reduction mobilizes communities at the intersection of spiritual care and public health. Born from conversations with faith leaders, health providers, and people who use drugs, this initiative connects, empowers, and builds capacity.
Values Rooted in Faith
This work is holy resistance: unapologetically rooted in love, justice, and radical welcome. Faith in Risk Reduction honors all stories, calls people by name, and creates communities where compassion replaces judgment.
Our Mission
Faith in Risk Reduction strengthens spiritual resources, health, and well-being in communities affected by the opioid crisis by:
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Partnering with people who use drugs and community leaders
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Expanding support for risk-reduction policies, practices, and messaging
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Growing spiritual communities and creating language that reflects lived experience
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Building practices that heal trauma and dismantle oppression
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Reshaping the moral narrative on substance use to affirm dignity and divinity
Together—with the National Risk Reduction Coalition and our community partners—we are changing the conversation, saving lives, and lifting up love in action.
Called 2 Care Street Outreach Ministries
Street outreach utilizes a person-centered approach, focused on the individual’s strengths and resources, and never makes assumptions about what a person might need or want.
Street outreach efforts utilize harm reduction principles, including non-judgmental, non-coercive provision of services and resources.