Haven Wheelock

Haven was the first in her family to earn a college degree and has been working in harm reduction for more than 14 years. She coordinates the syringe exchange program at Outside In, which operates a syringe exchange program that was one of the nation’s first and the first to be publicly funded. During her 10 years with the organization, in addition to a variety of efforts to expand access to harm reduction programs, Haven spearheaded the effort to establish and expand the use of naloxone to prevent opiate overdose deaths. Following the successful effort to advocate for a change in the law regarding naloxone prescription, Haven began training clients in the use of naloxone and distributing naloxone to people she had trained. Her efforts were instrumental to achieving a 40 percent drop in the heroin overdose death rate in Portland over the next year.