About NYSHRA
The mission of the New York State Harm Reduction Association (NYSHRA) is to introduce and promote harm reduction in New York State as a scientifically based treatment appropriate for substance use disorder, as well as a lifestyle approach to people who use substances.
Our Mission
The mission of the New York State Harm Reduction Association (NYSHRA) is to introduce and promote harm reduction in New York State as a scientifically based treatment appropriate for substance use disorder, as well as a lifestyle approach to people who use substances. NYSHRA fulfills this mission on behalf of clinical and other providers, and the consumers they serve, through public policy and advocacy, public awareness, clinical education, and research dissemination.
Our Activities
NYSHRA conducts the following activities on behalf of its members:
Provides members with access to cutting-edge clinical and peer trainings rooted in harm reduction
Advocates for policies that make harm reduction the preeminent treatment modality across New York
Collaborates with partners working at the intersection of race, gender, and class to end the opioid epidemic
MEET OUR BOARD
The NYSHRA Board of Directors is a diverse group of highly experienced leaders with deep expertise across a broad spectrum of disciplines including law, healthcare, advocacy, public policy, community planning, and education. Their commitment to advancing the work of the organization is unwavering, as is their belief in the mission and vision.
Alexis Pleus (Co-Chair)
Truth Pharm is deeply committed to criminal, social and racial justice issues. It is also a NYS Registered Overdose Prevention Program, providing instruction and distribution of Narcan kits. Truth Pharm has developed and continues to provide many educational and support programs for the community.
Alexis is a licensed Professional Engineer with over 25 years of experience in engineering and management. She has also been a corporate trainer for over 20 years and worked for nine years as an adjunct professor at SUNY Broome. She is an artist, a writer, a public speaker, a community organizer and volunteer, and has received numerous awards and honors for her work in harm reduction.
Joseph R. Turner, JD (Co-Chair)
Joseph R. Turner, JD, is the co-founder and current President/CEO of Exponents, Inc., in New York City. Exponents is the first known harm reduction substance use treatment program, beginning in 1988. Exponents is founded on the principles of “engagement, community and advocacy.” Abstinence is not required for admission, participation or completion of any of Exponents programs, which have served over 10,800 NYC substance users. Mr. Turner was born and raised in Brooklyn’s Brownsville, and continued his path through the streets, drugs, prison, treatment, wellness and activism.
As an attorney, Mr. Turner has worked for Harlem Legal Services, National Conference of Black Lawyers, and in a private practice that focused on the representation of political prisoners, criminal defense and community development. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Harlem United, Executive Director of the Fountain Avenue Community Development Corporation, and Chairman of the Board of Friends of Recovery – New York (FOR-NY). He has provided consultant services to various social justice organizations. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Exodus Transitional Services and co-chair of the OASAS Recovery Implementation Team. Mr. Turner’s recovery and activism is anchored and maintained upon the same harm reduction principles as Exponents: “meeting folks where they are…but not leaving them there.”
John Barry (Treasurer)
Amy Kabel (Member)
Amy is currently the Director of Grants Management at UConnectCare Behavioral Health Services in Batavia, NY. She began her career in this field as a tech at an inpatient facility, and is a CRPA, CARC, obtained her CASAC-T, has a Bachelor of Science in Human and Community Services and now writes and manages several grants. She is a strong believer in Harm Reduction and one life saved is a giant step forward and that is our main goal. Our role in HR, and as providers/peers, is to walk alongside individuals and provide them with the tools that they need to survive and recover, on their terms, not ours. When, and if, someone is ready to take that next step towards treatment and recovery is ultimately theirs and we can be there to support and love them along the way, providing safety and resources.
Charles King (Member)
In 2014, Charles served as community co-chair of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Task Force and he currently co-chairs the Ending the Epidemic Subcommittee of the New York State (NYS) AIDS Advisory Council. He has been a vocal proponent of expanding HIV rental assistance statewide. In November 2018, Charles was appointed to the first-ever State Hepatitis C Elimination Task Force and he has been a vocal proponent of expanding access to the cure for hepatitis C.
Charles authored the 2012 MRT proposal to have OASAS recognize harm reduction as a drug treatment modality and then led the effort to develop the first OASAS-approved harm reduction policy and procedure manual, pioneering the use of harm reduction in an 822 program. He is also the founding chair of the Board of Research for a Safer New York, an entity seeking to introduce overdose prevention centers as a harm reduction service in New York State.
Charles also serves on the Value Based Payment (VBP) Workgroup charged with reforming the State’s health care system to improve health outcomes for patients and decrease avoidable emergency room visits. He co-chaired the VBP subcommittees on Social Determinants of Health and Privacy and Protection of Patient Information.
At the national level, Charles currently co-chairs the ACT Now: End AIDS Coalition, a national ending the epidemic coalition that has worked alongside sixteen states and jurisdictions to create and announce plans to end their local HIV/AIDS epidemics. He is also on the Visioning Committee of the National AIDS Housing Coalition, and served on the governing body of UNAIDS as a member of the NGO Delegation to the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB).
Charles holds both a Law Degree and a Master of Divinity from Yale University, and is an ordained Baptist Minister.
Christopher Joseph (Member)
Chris (he/him) is the Executive Director of EngageWell IPA (formerly the Injection Drug User Health Alliance [IDUHA] IPA), a growing network of 20 health and human service organizations in New York City serving historically disenfranchised New Yorkers with chronic health and behavioral health conditions. EngageWell envisions an equitable and trauma-informed health care delivery system, rooted in Harm Reduction principles, that supports clients and communities in breaking the links between poverty, structural racism, and poor health. With over 15 years’ experience managing micro- and macro-level public health interventions, Chris oversees the IPA’s business strategy, designs integrated models of care, and helps the IPA navigate the State’s movement toward value-based care.
Prior to EngageWell, Chris oversaw NYC’s largest HIV Care Coordination Program at Mount Sinai’s Institute for Advanced Medicine and managed an SDOH intervention at Woodhull Medical Center where undergraduate Health Advocates connected low-income, pediatric families living in Brooklyn to community resources and public benefits. Since 2011, Chris has participated in NYC’s Ryan White HIV Planning Council & Integration of Care Committee helping improve NYC’s safety-net system for people with or at risk for HIV. Chris was also an Adjunct Instructor for four years at LaGuardia Community College where he taught Population Health for the Community Health Worker Certificate Program. In 2015, Chris’s health equity work earned him an Emerging Social Work Leadership Award from the National Association of Social Workers NYC Chapter. Chris grew up in east Detroit Michigan, earning Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work degrees from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (Go Blue!)
Emma Fabian, MSW (Member)
Emma holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University at Buffalo. In her position at Evergreen Health, she oversees harm reduction and drug user health services at sites in Buffalo and Jamestown, NY. She participates in several local and statewide workgroups that are addressing issues that impact people who use drugs, including buprenorphine and Hepatitis C prevention and treatment. She is also a part time instructor at the University of Buffalo School of Social Work and a local activist.
Jennifer Cervi (Member)
Jennifer holds a Master of Social Work Degree from the University at Buffalo and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) as well as a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC). Jennifer is the Clinical Director of Integrated Services at Horizon Health Services in Western New York where she provides training, clinical supervision, and development of clinical programming in the outpatient treatment setting. Jennifer is proud to lead her agency’s efforts in substance use and mental health treatment integration, harm reduction in the therapeutic setting, and provision of gender affirming care.
Since 2021 Jennifer has been a member of the Erie County Mental Health Subcommittee- a workgroup focusing on the identification and evaluation of mental health services and needs in the area. In addition, Jennifer has developed and facilitated training for the UB School of Social Work Continuing Education Department on topics such as family involvement in substance use disorder treatment, and interventions for treating overdose and suicide risk.
Julia Ritzler-Shelling (Member)
Julia Ritzler-Shelling (Julie) has been a harm reductionist at heart since her early undergraduate days at SUNY Geneseo, where she studied Biology and was a Peer Health Educator passionately focused on safer sex and substance using behaviors. She earned her Master’s of Education in Health Science at SUNY Brockport and has over 20 years’ experience in community health promotion and HIV/HCV and STI prevention programming in the Greater Rochester/Finger Lakes area. Julie currently serves as Senior Director of Community Prevention & Harm Reduction Services at Trillium Health in Rochester; where she leads multiple teams providing outreach, prevention education, point of care testing services, connection to care and lifesaving harm reduction services to community members. As a 500 RYT, Julie is also committed to spreading the word about the benefits of yoga and meditation to the masses!
Ramona Cummings (Member)
Ramona Cummings, Chief Program Officer at Alliance for Positive Change, is a LMSW and has a Master’s degree in Social Work from Fordham University. She has extensive experience working in the areas of HIV/AIDS, substance use, mental health and Peer services. Ms. Cummings has more than 20 years of community service experience overseeing Harm Reduction and Recovery Support Programs. She has managed numerous SAMHSA Treatment and Prevention Program grants as well as New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute Syringe Exchange Programs.
Let Your Voice Be Heard.
Become A NYSHRA Member.