My Philosophy of Care

A reflection from the On Compassion and Change series

Care is a word we use often, but living it has taught me more than any definition ever could.

My philosophy of care didn’t come from textbooks or training modules.
It came from being present with people in real moments - the quiet ones, the hard ones, the ones where dignity mattered more than anything else.

It came from spending time in rural communities where resources are thin but compassion isn’t.
From sitting with people who wanted support without judgment.
From learning that care is not something I give to people, it’s something we create together, at their pace.

Care, to me, begins with respect.
With humility.
With the understanding that people are experts in their own lives.

In harm reduction, we don’t promise certainty.
We don’t impose outcomes.
We offer safer options, grounded information, and steady presence.
And people choose what fits their reality.

That belief shapes how I approach every part of my work.

“Care begins with dignity, not direction.”

Care is slow.
Intentional.
Human.

It doesn’t rush people who have been rushed by systems their entire lives.
It doesn’t assume what a community needs before listening to the people inside it.
It doesn’t arrive with pre-packaged solutions.

It honors the pace of trust - especially in rural and underfunded areas where the gaps are wide, but the strength of the community runs deep.

This is why the heart of my work sits in supporting the supporters.

The outreach workers.
The peers.
The nurses in small clinics.
The volunteers.
The neighbors who quietly show up for each other.
The people holding everything together without recognition, funding, or stability.

My role isn’t to take over their work.
It’s to support the work they’re already doing.
To walk beside them, not ahead of them.
To help strengthen capacity in ways that honor local knowledge and lived experience.

Care is relational, not transactional.
It’s built through presence and curiosity, not certainty or authority.

And care must be sustainable.
Communities deserve support that doesn’t disappear when a grant cycle ends or priorities shift somewhere else.

My philosophy of care guides how I build JHO, how I support rural partners, and how I approach consulting in a way that is ethical, compassionate, and grounded.

Every community deserves care.
Every supporter deserves support.
And care, at its core, begins with dignity.