Marissa Aims To Be There for Others

Marissa's desire to work in the harm reduction field and support people with substance use disorder comes from a personal place.

Marissa's desire to work in the harm reduction field and support people with substance use disorder comes from a personal place. She herself came from a family where they didn’t really talk about mental health, and she was prescribed opioids by a doctor without being told about the dependencies that can form.

Because of that, Marissa found herself wanting to help other people in similar situations make informed, healthy decisions about what'll work best for them. "It's being the person who I wish I would have had," Marissa says, "who I thought I would have needed." She's committed to always being a kind and caring hand that others can reach out to when they need guidance.

If you want to learn more about harm reduction resources in Santa Clara County, take a look at: publichealth.sccgov.org/harm-reduction-program