High Rockies Harm Reduction (HRHR) has two new sets of wheels rolling out services across the Valley and beyond. Mugsy Seldeen, the executive director of the nonprofit, greets clients without judgement, sliding open the side door of one of the sleek new Ford Transits to invite them in for care.
“It’s such a game changer,” Seldeen said of the 2025 vans during an April 16 interview with The Sopris Sun on its weekly public affairs show, “Everything Under The Sun,” on KDNK Community Access Radio.
“To have this upgrade of this private, safe, temperature-controlled office space that we can bring to folks to get these services is huge,” she said. “It’s so wonderful.”
Last year, HRHR received funding from the Colorado Attorney General’s Opioid Abatement pool to purchase the vehicles and provide mobile services across Opioid Abatement Region 5, which includes Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle, Summit and Lake counties, Seldeen explained in an email. “After several years of utilizing personal and used vehicles for mobile services, HRHR officially acquired these converted Ford Transits near the end of January,” she stated.
The two vehicles are customized on the inside as patient rooms, very much resembling a doctor’s office. A chair, secured with a strap during travel, rolls out from under a desk behind the driver’s seat and a bench lines the opposite wall, where people can have a seat and consult with an HRHR rep. Across the aisle, stacked cabinets are labeled with the essentials: sharps (IV supplies and disposal), naloxone, wound care, hygiene, smoking supplies and snorting kits.
Whether someone needs fentanyl test strips to check their drugs or condoms to reduce the risk of disease transmission, the mobile offices are stacked to the nines.
In 2020 and 2021, HRHR conducted a needs assessment while hosting pop-ups at local community spaces from Aspen
to DeBeque.
“We really discovered that because there’s so much stigma — not just around these services but around substance use and HIV and of all these things — that folks were not super comfortable coming into these buildings,” Seldeen explained.
“We determined … that bringing supplies to the people, meeting people where they are physically and emotionally, was going to work best for our rural populations,” she continued.
Seldeen introduced harm reduction care to the Roaring Fork Valley in November 2020, and has steadily acclimated communities to the nonjudgemental approach addressing addiction.
“Harm Reduction … is basically reducing harm from our everyday actions,” she said, adding that bandaids and seatbelts are prime examples. Cars weren’t initially equipped with seatbelts, rearview mirrors or airbags, she explained, but because of the inherent danger associated with driving, these harm-reducing features were introduced over time.
“When we’re talking about substance use, it’s just reducing the very real harm that can occur,” Seldeen said.
The nonprofit provides weekly services from Aspen to Glenwood, monthly services in Rifle and will resume weekly services in the Eagle, Edwards, Breckenridge, Dillon and Leadville this month.
“But we also work with a lot of our neighboring regions,” Seldeen clarified. “We’ve been in conversations with our northwestern counties for many years to try and get these services up there. We’ve worked with our southwestern counties … specifically in Durango to get programs up and running there.” She added that HRHR has its sights set on Delta County as well.
Currently, HRHR has one other staff member, but volunteers are also invited to assist with its mission.
Seldeen has a regular column in The Sopris Sun, “Reducing Harm,” and hosts a public affairs show, “Chemical World,” on KDNK every second Monday at 4pm. To listen to the full interview with The Sopris Sun, visit kdnk.org/podcast/ everything-under-the-sun
Folks can find HRHR’s full service schedule at highrockiesharmreduction.com People interested in supporting its mission can email mugsy@highrockiesharmreduction.com
