Charitable Fund "Humanitarian Action"

I am applying for this prize so that our charitable fund could receive the well-deserved recognition at the international stage and show: despite all the socio-economic difficulties in our country, you are able not only to survive for 20 years - that is how long we exist, - but also to make profound changes in the lives of the most marginalized groups whom we have been helping all this time: people with substance use disorders, homeless people, members of the LGBTQ community, sex workers, people living with HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis. 

I am applying for this prize because this charitable fund once helped me survive and overcome addiction - and now I have the opportunity to thank it for this with a significant financial contribution that will allow us to launch the first online counseling service for vulnerable people in Russia. 

I am applying for this prize to prove to myself: despite numerous overdoses, multiple arrests, two chronic hepatitis, you are a worthy person, your personal story deserves to be told, your example can help many other people who are still suffering.

I am a person in the long-term recovery from substance use disorder. More than 14 years have passed since I last used drugs, alcohol or nicotine. For the last 10 years, I have been working in different NGOs helping the most vulnerable people: women living with HIV and hepatitis, mothers suffering from substance use of their children, people who use drugs. 

Also, having survived several overdoses, I launched volunteer projects aimed at providing people who use drugs with reliable and accurate data on what to do in case of an overdose - a website Drugmap.ru mapping latest trends in drug use, and a Telegram bot (@overdosehelp_bot) with the useful information on the first aid during an acute intoxication. 

My vision for the future: I want to digitalize the addiction and harm reduction help further so that people who use drugs could protect their health and their lives with the help of all the things that surround us in everyday life - smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

Our mission:

We save the lives and health of people who use drugs. We rehabilitate their human dignity based on the principle of the uniqueness of each life. We raise public awareness of the problem of addiction.

Our vision:

A world in which people who use drugs no longer die from overdoses, HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and suicides. A world in which they have equal rights and opportunities, are not stigmatized and discriminated against, and do not experience self-stigma.

Our values:

• Uniqueness
• Acceptance
• Confidence
• Equality
• Accountability

The principles of our work:

• We involve people with substance use disorders and people living with HIV in the activities of the fund
• We encourage positive change in a person's life
• We adhere to the philosophy of harm reduction
• We build partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organizations

We have been working in Russia since 1997 - first as a Medecine du Monde partners, and then, from 2001 onwards, as a separate legal entity. Yearly, we provide comprehensive medical and social services to over 5,000 people from the most marginalized groups: people who use drugs, members of LGBTQ community, sex workers, homeless, people living with HIV, viral hepatitis and TB. We pride ourselves on being pioneers in this field in Russia and, lately, in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Among our achievements are:

- The launch of the first mobile harm reduction unit in Russia,

- The launch of the first low-threshold NGO-based medical center for vulnerable populations such as people with substance use disorders, homeless, migrants, people living with HIV in Russia.

- The launch of an innovative web outreach tool that is being promoted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the EECA region.

Now, with the help of an Elevate Prize, we are hoping to launch the first online counseling service for the above-mentioned marginalized groups in Russia, using instant messengers, social media, website, chat bots and other online resources to provide psychosocial, medical and emotional support to people in need.

We are called Humanitarian Action, after all!

Often, people with substance use disorders, people living with HIV and other socially siginficant diseases face condemnation and denial of help in the very places where they should receive it. Therefore, our assistance is called low-threshold - to become our beneficicary, you do not need an ID card, all the services are anonymous, free-of-charge and confidential. We do not condemn anyone and do not force anyone to do something. We are a kind of a bridge between people from marginalized populations and various government and non-government services. With us, it becomes easier to get such help thanks to partnerships with various social and medical service institutions.

Not every one of our beneficiaries is ready to change their lives at the snap of their fingers. But we help these persons, these human beings, learn to take responsibility for their health and change gradually, moving from one small victory to another.