Drug users in Grand Rapids can receive free paraphernalia thanks to a local nonprofit organization which received over $1.3 million in state funds last year.
The Grand Rapids Red Project (GRRP) describes itself as a 501(c)3 nonprofit “dedicated to improving health, reducing harm, and preventing HIV.” Group leaders say they primarily focus on helping drug users “make any positive change, as they define it for themselves.”
One strategy used by GRRP is harm reduction, which seeks to mitigate the negative impacts of drug use without promoting immediate abstinence. The state of Michigan’s harm reduction website adds that the strategy “empowers people who use drugs with the choice to live a healthy, self-directed life.”
GRRP’s CleanWorks program provides “sterile supplies” to community members at two city office locations and rotating Mobile Health Unit sites. It also works to connect users with online mailing service NEXT, which provides “sterile syringes, naloxone, sharps containers, alcohol pads, cottons, fentanyl test strips, condoms, and more” free of charge to those who request them.
NEXT labels its service as being “designed to reduce opioid overdose death, prevent injection-related disease transmission, and improve the lives of people who use drugs.”
Internal documents from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services viewed by The Grand Rapids Herald show GRRP received $1,311,254.27 in state funding in 2025 alone. It is unclear whether that money was directly used for harm reduction purposes.
GRRP has also placed several boxes of free naloxone throughout the city. That drug can be used to prevent death if administered during an overdose.
The Grand Rapids Police Department’s crimes against society dashboard shows the city has seen 133 drug related offenses since January 1, 2026, an 8.1% increase from the prior year. In 2025 alone the city recorded just short of 1,000 drug or narcotic related incidents.
Several downtown Grand Rapids businesses last week told The Herald they were ignored by the city after raising concerns of used needles and human feces outside their storefronts.
Write to jackson@grherald.com