From the war on drugs to the legacy of the crack era, Black people in the U.S. have been systemically and perpetually harmed by both drug use and public health disparities. That sobering reality is also true in Kentucky, where a Lexington nonprofit is working to build safer futures by changing how support is delivered, integrating harm reduction into already effective agricultural programming.

“We are trying to think outside of the box around crafting unique, one-of-a-kind programming while providing a critical community need,” said Ashley C. Smith, Executive Director and Co-founder of Black Soil KY.

Established in 2017 by Smith and her husband, Trevor Claiborn Sr., the organization’s mission is to “reconnect Black Kentuckians to their heritage and legacy in agriculture” through programming, events, and community building.

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From food access to harm reduction

Since its founding, Black Soil KY has worked with farmers and community partners to host events that make agricultural education and fresh food more accessible to Black communities across the state. While the organization was effective at increasing access and education around food, Smith saw an opportunity to develop programming rooted in the idea that drug abuse, food insecurity, and public health are intersectional problems that demand intersectional solutions.

In 2023, the number of drug overdose deaths in Kentucky declined for the first time since 2018, according to the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, but not every community felt that progress. That same year, Black Kentuckians experienced an 8% rise in overdose deaths. More broadly, Black people in America are 46% more likely to die from a drug overdose compared to other groups, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports.

The opioid crisis is not the only harm felt more intensely by Black communities in the state. Kentucky currently ranks as the state with the second-highest rate of food insecurity in the country, the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy reports. Data indicates that Black communities across the state are nearly twice as likely to be food insecure, compared to White Kentuckians, according to Feeding America.

These are the disparities that Black Soil KY intended to close with a new approach to community care.

Related: Queer Kentucky launches harm reduction lockers across the Bluegrass State

Related: Overdose alert in Lexington

In 2024, in partnership with The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, a nonprofit that works to reduce health disparities while promoting health equity across the state, Black Soil KY acquired funding from Vital Strategies, a global public health organization, to begin integrating harm reduction into its already effective portfolio of programming.

Harm reduction is a spectrum of strategies that are intended to minimize the harmful nature of drug use. Such strategies include providing clean syringes, sexual health testing, contraceptives, fentanyl testing strips, counseling, mental health support programs, and more. Harm reduction aims to minimize the harmful effects of drug use rather than ignore them.

First, the organization went to the farmers. In 2024, the nonprofit trained 30 small and mid-size farms on harm reduction, including signs of overdose, Narcan usage, and how to respond to the substance abuse they might come across in their work. The organization saw farmers as a priority because of how inseparable their work is from the communities they serve, and how intrinsically connected they are to an individual’s well-being, according to Smith.

“We trained Kentucky small- to mid-sized farms: farmers, farm operators, and their families around how to be harm reduction first responders,” Smith said. “They oftentimes live in rural communities, but travel to urban communities to make deliveries… And we were hearing stories from farmers who make deliveries in communities afflicted by substance use and abuse disorders.”

After they built the training model for farmers, Black Soil KY expanded their harm reduction programs into their other community-centered events. In 2024, the group first began including harm reduction supplies as part of their free food distribution in Central Kentucky. After seeing the success of these resources, Black Soil KY opened two neighborhood “farmacy market” locations in Lexington in 2025.

The “farmacy markets” were a first-of-its-kind concept, providing harm reduction supplies and educational materials right alongside fresh food directly within communities. Alongside fresh produce, these markets provide communities with tampons, condoms, and harm reduction necessities, including Narcan and fentanyl testing strips.

“All of these steps, these multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary approaches are really seeing people for who they are and meeting them where they’re at, while also increasing their recovery capital around their nutrition and their health and their wellness,” Smith said.

Related: Navigating the In-Between: Ryan Jones discusses the critical importance of the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition

Related: Navigating health care in an anti-fat and anti-Black world

This year, the organization launched its “Shop N’ Learn Community Series,” a partnership with Vital Strategies and the Kentucky Department of Public Health, part of a broader effort to combat rising overdose rates among BIPOC and underserved populations. The monthly event is “focused on expanding awareness and implementation of harm reduction strategies to often overlooked, hard-to-reach, underrepresented communities in relation to harm reduction and recovery care.” Individuals who attend a “Shop N’ Learn” event also receive a $40 gift card.

The series has been hosted in part by guest speakers, who share their own testimonies and expertise around recovery and healing.

“I am from the community, and I had an opportunity to go share my lived experience with the same community that I was brought up in — as terrifying as that is for me being only three years sober,” said Tywanna White, a recovery coach with Voices of Hope, a recovery community center in Lexington. “I said yes to an opportunity to be able to carry the message. The people in the audience had so many questions, and I was able to educate them on some things that I was taught from this same community.”

White was one of the featured speakers at a “Shop N’ Learn” event in June. According to White, this programming is exactly what it takes to dismantle health disparities facing Black Kentuckians.

“Seeing those faces looking right back at me wanting to be open, it shifted something. It told me that there’s a need for this…” said White. “I didn’t have any voices trying to help educate me on my substance use. It was so normalized. So no one even knew that I was struggling because it’s so normalized in the Black community.”

According to Smith, around 10,000 community members showed up at their events in 2024 and 2025. The impact, beyond attendance, speaks for itself. Smith said attendees of their programs report progress.

“We’ve really been able to see a lot of positive outcomes like reducing interpersonal and inter-communal violence,” Smith said.

Civic engagement as harm reduction

This programming is just the beginning of how Black Soil KY plans to build deeper inroads across communities that need care. Civic engagement is among the many solutions Black Soil KY is exploring to heighten awareness of health disparities.

In 2024, just 48% of Black Kentuckians voted in the general election. That is compared to over 70% of White Kentuckians. There is a growing body of research pointing to a strong correlation between civic engagement and public health: The more engaged a community is, the healthier they are. Black Soil KY identified these disparities and created new programming to empower Black communities in Kentucky to have a stronger say in what policies and people are given a platform.

In September, Black Soil KY, in partnership with the Lexington Urban League Young Professionals, a network of young professionals advancing public service and professional development, is exploring how civic engagement will take center stage as a new harm reduction topic in their “Shop N’ Learn” series.

For the first time, the workshop will focus on how to participate in elections and the importance of voting. The workshop will bring folks together who have overcome or are currently working through substance abuse, and support them in getting registered to vote while providing educational materials on the choices they have in November.

“We can really facilitate getting everyone active and engaged. And we truly believe that’s also a part of harm reduction: being active in your community,” said Smith.

Black Soil KY’s programming has become a staple in communities, with leaders celebrating how the organization addresses both a person’s material needs while safeguarding their emotional and physical well-being.

“A person wants to be heard, they want to be seen, they want to feel like they’re human. And so it starts with getting to know the people off paper, knowing what it is they need at that moment, and then focusing on removing the substance later…” said White. “I think it’s a beautiful thing to incorporate harm reduction in these same communities where harm happens and also center it around food. That is the medicine.”

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This work was supported by the 2026 CNP Media Fund. #CNPMediaFund

Related

• Queer Kentucky launches harm reduction lockers across the Bluegrass State
• Navigating the In-Between: Ryan Jones discusses the critical importance of the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition
• Overdose alert in Lexington
• Navigating health care in an anti-fat and anti-Black world