Community Recovery Support Network
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Funds peer-led harm-reduction and health services for people who use drugs, building on Portugal's decades-long shift toward treatment-based rather than punitive drug policy.
Why this matters in Portugal
Since 2001, possessing a small amount of any drug for personal use has been an administrative matter rather than a crime. People found with drugs are referred to regional dissuasion commissions, which can steer them toward treatment instead of the courts. The model drew international attention after drug-related HIV infections and overdose deaths fell sharply in the years that followed.
The policy did not remove the need for care. Austerity after the 2011 debt crisis and a 2012 restructuring that split up the dedicated national drug institute weakened local services, and visible street-level use has returned to some Lisbon neighborhoods, while rising rents push vulnerable people further out. Migrants, sex workers and people experiencing homelessness are among those least likely to walk into a clinical service. Programs run by peers, people with direct experience of drug use, reach those who distrust institutions and keep them connected to testing, treatment and social support.
What your gift pays for
- Peer counselor time for one-to-one support and accompaniment to health and social appointments
- Rapid testing for HIV, hepatitis C and other infections, with linkage to treatment
- Harm-reduction supplies and a drop-in space where people can rest, wash and talk
- Training for new peer workers drawn from the communities the service reaches
Organization
GAT – Grupo de Ativistas em Tratamentos · Portugal
Founded 2001 · Headquarters: Lisbon
Portuguese community organization running peer-led harm reduction and health services for people who use drugs, including GAT IN Mouraria in Lisbon.
How they work: GAT began as an activist group of people living with HIV, and peer involvement remains its defining feature: people who use or have used drugs work as staff, not only as service users. At GAT IN Mouraria, visitors drop in without appointments for testing, counseling and referrals, and peers accompany them to hospitals or social services when needed. GAT also runs other community testing services in Lisbon, including CheckpointLX, and contributes to national and European policy work on HIV, hepatitis and drug policy.
Track record: Founded in 2001, GAT has run the peer-led GAT IN Mouraria harm-reduction centre in Lisbon since 2013, offering peer counselling, testing and care to 70-80 visitors a day.
✓ Verified by our team on 8 December 2022
Giving in Portugal
Portugal's decades-long shift toward treating drug use as a health matter rather than a crime underpins one of its causes, which funds peer-led harm-reduction and health services through GAT. The others respond to everyday strains: psychological support for people with mental illness where waits for therapy can last months, food bank restocking as more working households seek help, and free introductory coding courses for young teenagers. Partners are Portuguese organizations, including the national federation of food banks.
4 causes are listed in Portugal, each with its own verified organization. $305,900 has been distributed to causes in Portugal since 2021.
Our guide to giving in Portugal · all 4 causes
Doar criptomoedas em Portugal: quatro causas verificadas
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How your gift reaches this cause
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