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Kim Powers is one of the architects of harm reduction in Massachusetts, with an impact that extends far beyond. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Harm Reduction Workforce Coalition (MAHRWC) and is the founder of Access HOPE (AHOPECC), a peer-driven mobile harm reduction program delivering life-saving services across Cape Cod and the Islands.
In 1996, alongside her community, she founded the Sex Worker Advocate Group (SWAG)—a groundbreaking, no-judgment space for people engaged in sex work across Massachusetts. Now more than 360 consecutive monthly meetings strong (famously known as Condoms & Cookies), SWAG stands as a testament to consistency, dignity, and community-led care.
With over four decades of experience, Kim has built low-barrier health systems for marginalized communities from the ground up. Her work is fueled by an unshakable commitment to people who use drugs (PWUD), people living with HIV (PLWH), and the harm reduction workforce itself.
She entered the movement through ACT UP Boston in the late 1980s, where she was a founding member of the IV League—an underground syringe exchange operating during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Long before policy caught up, Kim was already doing the work that kept people alive.
Her career has moved fluidly between street-level organizing and high-level policy consulting, making her a rare force who can translate lived reality into systems change—and back again. She is a sought-after expert witness and a relentless advocate for drug policy reform across Massachusetts.
Kim played a key role in a pivotal legal battle alongside GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), contributing to a landmark 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that affirmed the right of private organizations to distribute syringes without municipal approval—reshaping harm reduction access statewide.
Her perspective, spanning from the HIV/AIDS crisis to today’s opioid epidemic, is documented in the Harm Reduction in Massachusetts Oral History Project.
Kim Powers has used her lived experience to build the harm reduction movement, shape it, and defend it. Her work has always been grounded in one core belief:
“We act as catalysts for community resilience, dismantling systemic inequities and fighting for a future where compassion replaces stigma—and where the people doing this work have the support they need to sustain it.”
https://sadod.org/2021/11/09/sherememberstheirnamesandfaces
https://www.voicesofharmreduction.com/interviews/interview-jess-tilly-6jba2-a3a5e
https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/drugs/2017/03/06/a-clean-sweep-with-hyannis/22021078007/
https://provincetownindependent.org/tag/kim-powers/
https://nasen.org/sep/access-hope
https://www.capecod.gov/2024/05/23/community-access-to-resources-and-education-care-guide/
https://www.ahopecc.com/home/harm-reduction-supplies
https://www.health-street.net/location/hyannis-ma-drug-testing/
https://www.capecod.com/newscenter/cape-women-honored-for-substance-abuse-and-health-efforts/
https://www.boston.com/news/health/2023/08/24/narcan-mbta-red-line-stations-opioid-crisis/
Decades of experience: Powers has been a part of the harm reduction movement for more than 30 years. Before founding Access HOPE, she was the health outreach coordinator for the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (ASGCC).
Mission: Access HOPE is a grassroots mobile outreach program run by a team with lived and living experience. It provides confidential, low-barrier services and resources directly to people who use drugs in the places they are.
Overdose prevention: Through Access HOPE, Powers distributes life-saving supplies, including the overdose reversal medication Narcan (naloxone) and drug-checking equipment like fentanyl test strips.
Social justice and advocacy: The organization advocates for social justice and strives to address systemic injustices that impact the communities it serves. Powers is a vocal advocate for harm reduction practices and the legalization of harm reduction centers.
Funding and support: Access HOPE is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The program has received support from entities like RIZE Massachusetts, and state funding has helped the organization expand its impact.
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