Harm reduction and recovery don’t begin with salaries, titles, or polished org charts. They begin with people who care so much it hurts; people who step up because no one else will. That’s how most grassroots organizations start: with grief, passion, and a refusal to stand by.
But here’s the catch: passion saves lives, but it doesn’t protect organizations.
Most groups launch the same way I did:
- Surround yourself with people you think are allies and friends.
- Ask people you admire to sit on your board.
- Grab bylaws or policies from the internet because you care more about overdose reversal kits than Robert’s Rules.
And then funding arrives. Suddenly the stakes get higher, and the cracks in the structure start to show. Without strong governance and protections, your dream can vanish overnight, sometimes taken by the very people you trusted to build it with you.
I know because it happened to me.
I founded an organization in honor of my parents, a living amends and something my children could be proud of. I poured a decade of my life into it, fueled by nothing but heart and the belief that passion would be enough. I gave jobs and salaries to people I thought were friends. I invited people I admired onto the board. What I didn’t know then and what cost me everything, was that I had also given them the perfect positions to take everything I created.
What I created in memory of my family was stripped away and turned into something unrecognizable. I’m still carrying that loss, and the truth is: it could happen to anyone who walks into this work without armor.
But here’s the bigger truth: it’s not your fault. It’s a systemic failure. Local, state, and federal governments pump millions into grants and programs, but offer nothing resembling real technical assistance. No guide for building boards that protect you. No roadmap for fiscal controls. No warning about what happens when the wrong people get power.
That’s why Aftermath Strategies exists.
We’ve lived the collapse, and we’ve studied the wreckage. We know the traps because we’ve fallen into them. And we’re here to make sure you don’t.
Our work is about more than bylaws and policies. It’s about giving your mission the structure it deserves, the protection it needs, and the endurance it takes to survive power struggles, hidden agendas, and systemic neglect.
Passion is the spark. But structure keeps the fire alive long enough to matter.
If you’ve built something worth fighting for, we’ll help make sure you never lose it.
AFTERMATH STRATEGIES 