Erica has been a dedicated volunteer with CRA for the last 11 years and became the President of the Board of Directors in 2018. She is invested in the lives and rights of drug users. In addition to doing street and van outreach, she is also a founding and active member of the Drug Users Health Collective of Chicago and the Chicago Drug Users Union.
K began volunteering with CRA when they learned about the sharp increase of overdose during the Covid-19 pandemic and later joined the Board to further support the organization. They have a deep admiration for the life-saving work of harm reductionists and are committed to the mission of ‘any positive change’ for the clients and participants of CRA’s programs. As a result of their teaching career, K is passionate about educating everyone they meet on the benefits of harm reduction. K is devoted to helping others learn that the principles of community care and reducing stigma not only contribute to the safety and dignity of drug users, but also benefit all of society.
Rachel has been a volunteer since January 2021 and joined the board in September 2021. She started volunteering at CRA after her late husband Mike had volunteered and raved about the successes of CRA. Rachel is honored to help the lives and rights of drug users and fight the stigma of addiction!
Amy-Jo came to CRA as a volunteer and did not really know what to expect. She personally came from Recovery, where abstinence was the way… but she realized that not everyone’s journey included recovery. AJ had people very close to her for whom recovery was not in the cards. In some cases, overdose and death was the end result. She needed to believe there was a way to help them stay as safe as possible and if she could be a part of that, she wanted to know everything that was out there. So AJ came to where stigma does not exist and there is safety in numbers. She’s fallen in love with what CRA and all of its staff and volunteers stand for…. so much so that she volunteered to join the Board. Harm Reduction Rocks!
Matteo Rosen joined the CRA board in 2019. Prior to this, he served as a naloxone trainer and community health educator and outreach worker, both at CRA and with the San Francisco Drug Users Union.