Responding with Love: Our Guiding Approach
OnPoint NYC is a special place – not only do we provide effective harm reduction services, but we strive to craft a culture infused with caring, flexibility, and love. Our visionary leader, Sam Rivera, is a big part of this. As Executive Director, he has drawn from his upbringing, life experiences, and history working in the field to craft an unique philosophy to his work, and continually ensures that it’s reflected in each and every interaction OnPoint NYC makes with our participants.
Sam's Approach to Harm Reduction
“We love on people until they’re ready to love on themselves,” Sam says – and this forms the cornerstone of the way we approach our work.
For Sam, this idea runs deep. He began working in harm reduction as a member of ACT UP in the 1990s – a decision that was highly influenced by his mother’s example. She worked as an ER nurse for decades on the Lower East Side and was committed to treating each person – including those who used drugs – with care and dignity.
“She said, ‘Even if they come every day, my job is to treat them when they arrive, hopefully help them become healthier, and keep them alive until they’re ready to make a change,’ explains Sam. “This was many years ago, when I was a kid, and it’s been in the back of my head ever since. It was her commitment to giving care and compassion to patients – especially during the drug crisis of the 1970’s – that inspires my work to this very day.”
Sam also draws on his Native culture in his work. “As an Afro-Taino, loving on people and building community are core principles of healing.” he says. “I suggest that we go as far back as possible and do what our ancestors did for years, which is take care of each other instead of punishment.”
When Sam began as Executive Director at OnPoint NYC, he was committed to bringing this approach to these types of services – to “move in love,” elevate people with lived experience, and form true partnerships with others – with the idea that this is the core of harm reduction.
Sam’s approach also draws from harm reduction’s history, honoring the grassroots movement that began in the 1980s. Given Sam’s experience working in early harm reduction, as well as OnPoint NYC’s formation (coming from the merger of two older organizations), this rich history underpins much of our organizational approach. Our culturally responsive philosophy and focus on community outreach and education all stem from these roots.
“Harm reduction is the epitome of love. It is the epitome of meeting people where they are at,” Sam shares.
How Our Services Lead with Love
At OnPoint NYC, this philosophy is evident across each of our services. Each staff member is governed by this participant-led, affirming, judgement-free approach – committed to meeting each person where they are, building trust and community, and providing love and support regardless of their level of use.
Our programs are developed and structured with this approach in mind – this sets our service delivery model apart from other centers, which often solely center on drug cessation. OnPoint NYC’s focus is on love and wellness in all forms, which can be very effective in encouraging people to reduce or eliminate their drug use, and stay committed in their recovery. “What I know in my 30-plus years of this work is people attempt to stop using when they’re ready and if they choose to. People start to change their lives when they start to build a relationship with themselves, or when they feel comfortable and seen,” says Sam.
For example, our Holistic Services incorporates harm reduction’s roots and history, with an array of techniques and outreach to best serve our community. OnPoint NYC’s two Drop-in centers offer low threshold services that help people meet their basic needs in an affirming, supportive atmosphere. Our Mental Health team provides both formal and informal therapy to meet our participants where they are; we operate a garden to promote serenity, community, and connection to nature; and our medical staff provide care, treatment, and testing with an affirming harm-reduction lens.
Even in our Overdose Prevention Centers, “the least interesting thing is the drug use,” says Sam. “The fun thing in the room is the community, is the loving on people. It’s the music that plays. It’s all the things that create a space for people. In the room, if you have an overdose, we call you by your nickname. We call you in loving terms. We respond with love.”
Our International Impact
As the operator of the first sanctioned Overdose Prevention Centers in the United States, harm reduction organizations have looked to OnPoint NYC as a model and have toured our sites, conducted studies, and looked at ways to replicate our successes elsewhere in the world. Sam also regularly speaks at conferences and events in the harm reduction field to share lessons and discuss OnPoint NYC’s history and culture with other leaders.
Most recently, Sam visited Bogota, Colombia, where he served as Plenary Speaker at the 2025 International Conference on Harm Reduction and had the opportunity to tour a newly-opened Overdose Prevention Center in Bogota, Colombia – South America’s first site of this type.
Love Wins
We are honored to see our work inspire change in other locations, and are committed to serving as an example of how this approach to harm reduction can save lives, heal neighborhoods, and create better communities worldwide.
As Sam says:
Harm Reduction is community. Harm Reduction is safety. Harm Reduction is keeping beautiful people alive. Harm Reduction is health care. Harm Reduction is wellness. It's also a place where many people are loved and begin their journeys. Harm Reduction is love. And as we all know, love wins.”
Interested in learning more about how our philosophy influences our services? Check out the posts below:
Case Management Rooted in Compassion and Care
Building Trust & Wellness: Our Unique Approach to Mental Health Care
The True Impact of OnPoint NYC’s Holistic Services
How OnPoint NYC Promotes Sexual Health
