NORTHAMPTON — Harm Reduction Hedgehogs 413, an outreach organization for drug users in western Massachusetts, is one of 18 grassroots organizations receiving a combined $3.75 million from the commonwealth through the Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership program.

The Northampton organization, also known as HRH413, received $115,000 to be spent over the next three years. Its co-founder and director, Jess Tilley, said the funding would be used to build additional leadership roles focusing on marginalized communities, such as people of color and transgender individuals who may struggle with addiction.

“I’d say if you were to look at it percentage wise, about 70 to 80% of our clientele identify as BIPOC,” said Tilley, using the term that refers to Black, indigenous and people of color. “I think we are also one of the only organizations that offers safer supplies for hormone injection for the trans community as well.”

Tilley said that although addiction can affect anyone regardless of socioeconomic background, those who come from groups facing historic discrimination face a more difficult situation in navigating the recovery process.

“When there’s generational trauma, people inherently distrust the system,” Tilley said. “So what has made HRH so successful is that we’re hiring people to go into communities that reflect the communities they serve.”

The Mosaic program had been developed earlier in the year through a collaboration between the state’s Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services and RIZE Massachusetts, a nonprofit that works to end the opioid crisis. The grants given out through Mosaic are designed to “support communities and populations that have been historically underserved and have experienced a high rate of opioid-related overdose deaths,” according to a release put out by Gov. Maura Healey’s office.

Founded in 2019 by Tilley and Albie Park, HRH413 provides an alternative to abstinence-only recovery programs that aims to instead reduce negative consequences associated with drug use and respect the rights of people who use drugs. It responds to overdoses when someone feels calling 911 isn’t an option for them, for example out of fear of loss of housing or scholarships. Though based in Northampton, Tilley said the group works with people in nearby cities such as Holyoke and Springfield as well.

Massachusetts, along with other states across the country, have received hundreds of millions of dollars to combat the opioid crisis as a result of litigation against pharmaceutical companies such as Purdue Pharma deemed responsible for the crisis. But Tilley said she felt it was equally important for harm reduction programs that tolerate drug use to be able to receive funding.

“As the opioid settlement funds were hitting each state, they were really getting scooped up by municipalities, a lot of recovery centers, and recovery centers that are great to receive funding,” Tilley said. “But if you want to end overdose, you have to be giving the money to people working with people that are actively using.”

The $3.75 million given out represents the first round of funding as part of the Mosaic program, with two additional rounds of grant-making before the end of the fiscal year in June 2025. The state has committed to giving out $5 million annually over the next 18 years toward local harm reduction initiatives.

Other organizations in western Massachusetts to receive Mosaic grants this year include Choice Recovery Coaching and the Black Behavioral Health Network, both in Springfield, along with the Hilltown Youth Recovery Center in Charlemont.