Timeline
- March 2019
- March 1 — Harm Reduction Coalition awarded 2-year grant to serve as lead organization for the Harm Reduction & Community Education Component of the HepConnect Initiative
- March 31 — National Launch Event (Washington, DC)
- April 2019
- April 1-June 5 — Phone consultations with 59 unique Community Stakeholders
- April 25 — Kentucky State Launch & Community Listening Session (Louisville, KY)
- May 2019
- May 1 — Posted Regional Director Position
- May 14 — Indiana State Launch & Community Listening Session (Nashville, TN)
- May 28 — Theory of Change and Evaluation Planning
- June 2019
- June 5 — West Virginia State Launch & Community Listening Session (Morgantown, WV)
- June 11 — Online Community Listening Session for Grant Making Preference
- June 14-June 22 — Synthesis of Themes from Phone Consultations, Community Listening Sessions and Data Review to Create Request for Proposals
- June 24 — Theory of Change and All Day Planning Meeting to Create Basis for Project Evaluation (Oakland, CA)
- June 24 — Request for Proposals Launched & Instructional Webinar & Website with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- July 2019
- July 22 — Last Day to Submit Questions for the FAQ
- July 31 — Request for Proposals Deadline
- August 2019
- August 6 — Consultation with the National Drug Users Union on Meaningful Inclusion & Accountability of PWUD
- August 7 — Regional Director Dr. Orisha Bowers Joins the Team Based in Memphis, TN
- August 9 — Selection Committee Members Confirmed
- August 16 — Scoring Guide Developed for Proposal Review
- August 23 — Selection Committee Members Receive Proposals to Score
- September 2019
- September 3 — Posted 3 Harm Reduction Resource Coordinator Positions for Hire
- September 4 — Scored Proposals Due
- September 8 & 9 — Full Day Grant Review and Decision Making
- September 16 — All Applicants Informed of Award Decisions
- October 2019
- National Announcement of Awards
“The HepConnect Initiative was our opportunity to do grantmaking in a way that many of us in our former direct service lives have hoped for: to create a process that funded what actually needed to be funded to do the work, offer capacity to support the broader policy and systemic issues that makes the work difficult, and the center the expertise of people who use drugs through the process. We said that if organizations run by people who use drugs with limited infrastructure didn’t get funded through this process, we will have failed. We committed to really listening to the various community needs first, before we decided what the request for proposals would look like to set it up for success.” — Dr. Taeko Frost, Sr. Director of Innovation & Strategy and Project Director for the Launch of HepConnect