Lysandra Ryan

Lysandra Ryan

Gain insights from experts and survivors on how harm reduction actually looks on the ground through this conversation with South Carolina harm reduction specialist Lysandra Ryan. Born in South Carolina but shaped by frontline work in Canada, Lysandra shares how years of homelessness and drug use now fuel her commitment to making sure "people stay alive and feel seen and heard".

She talks through her start in Ottawa’s street outreach teams, including working with supervised consumption sites and a late-night "dope team" (Drug Overdose Prevention Through Education). Her account of Canada’s recent shift away from supervised consumption – closing sites, pushing abstinence-only models, and ignoring housing shortages – shows just how fragile life-saving services can be, even in places often held up as more progressive.

Back in upstate South Carolina with Challenges Inc, Lysandra now spends her days on the mobile unit, satellite sites, and in the office, offering supplies, conversation, and what she calls basic human decency. A moving moment with a participant heading into surgery, who thanked her "for being my friend", shows how powerful simple consistency and kindness can be. Lysandra is honest about the barriers people face: stigma, self‑stigma, shame, criminalisation, and fear of law enforcement.

She stresses that "using drugs doesn't make somebody a bad person", and points out that everyone is coping with something, whether drugs are involved or not. She also opens up about her own self-care and the need to unlearn the urge to argue with everyone who disagrees with harm reduction. Instead, she focuses her energy on the people who want and need support, and on colleagues who give her hope every day.

If you’ve ever wondered what real, person‑centred harm reduction looks like, this conversation might have you rethinking what it really means to care for people who use drugs.