H3RC Attends Opening Day at the Legislature
- HHHRC
- Jan 28, 2025
- 1 min read
H3RC staff members attended the Opening Day of the State Legislature on January 15 to share our policy priorities for the session with lawmakers and hand out free naloxone. Staff members from across our spectrum of programs joined Executive Director Heather Lusk, Policy & Advancement Manager Nikos Leverenz, and Director of Marketing & Development Andrew Ogata at the state capitol, including members of Kuaʻana (our transgender services program), Medical Case Management, Sexual Health, Tobacco Treatment, Behavioral Health, and our Hepatitis program.
This year we identified six policy areas to spotlight:
Updates to the state’s Syringe Exchange Program to align with identified best practices
Equity in housing and the fair treatment of unhoused residents
Culturally appropriate comprehensive behavioral healthcare,
Structural reforms to the legal system; reducing the criminalization of poverty, increasing access to community-based medical care, and reducing the impact of the criminal legal system on individuals and families
Expanding Hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment through increased funding and policy initiatives
Fair and equitable access to affirmative healthcare, mental health, and substance use treatment for LGBTQIA+ individuals as well as creating inclusive environments for LGBTQIA+ youth.
Included with this year’s list of priorities was an op-ed by HHHRC’s resident Tobacco Treatment Specialist, Donita Garcia. She shared her experiences with tobacco as both a former smoker and a fierce advocate for those trying to quit nicotine products.
It’s really encouraging to see H3RC showing up at the legislature with such a concrete, intersectional list of priorities—especially the push to reduce criminalization of poverty and expand syringe exchange access. The fact that they’re handing out naloxone at the capitol while advocating is such a powerful reminder that harm reduction isn’t just policy, it’s presence. On a loosely related note, this got me thinking about how we communicate complex advocacy messages—I stumbled on bad quality image maker recently, and it’s a fun little tool for making intentionally degraded images, which feels oddly fitting for stripping away the polished gloss we often put on serious issues. Anyway, thanks for sharing this update, and best of luck with the session!
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