Help is easier to reach when it’s already familiar.
Minutes MATter is a nonprofit bringing behavioral health education, stigma reduction, and overdose prevention to rural California communities, led by people with lived experience.
Why we exist
Minutes MATter: Overdose Prevention Fund Inc. is organized to:
- Support the prevention of drug overdose and reduce the impact of substance use and behavioral health conditions.
- Reduce stigma and educate the public about medication-assisted treatment.
- Help people obtain treatment and recovery support.
- Promote recovery and community well-being through education, outreach, training, community engagement, and related prevention activities.
The Lived Experience Resilience Collaborative
Our first program, now in development, will pair behavioral health education with hands-on practice using the video tools that telehealth relies on. We plan to begin in 2027.
Live virtual trainings
About once a month, an interactive session on recognizing when someone is struggling, challenging stigma, responding to an overdose with naloxone, and what a telehealth visit is like. Open to anyone in California.
The Practice Room
Each session will open 30 minutes early so anyone can try the camera, microphone, captions, and chat in a relaxed group setting.
Community gatherings
Quarterly in-person events at schools, colleges, and community spaces, with hands-on naloxone practice and time to connect.
Peer ambassadors
Paid community members, mostly young adults, who will earn Mental Health First Aid certification and help lead sessions and gatherings.
Who we serve
We focus on rural communities, starting in Shasta County, and three groups in particular.
Veterans
About one in ten Shasta County adults is a veteran. Sessions are designed around military culture and the barriers veterans describe to asking for help.
Families and older adults
Family members are often the first to notice when someone is struggling. Practicing with video tools in a group makes telehealth less intimidating.
Young adults, 18 to 25
This is the age when substance use often begins. Young adults will also fill most of our paid peer ambassador roles.
Why prevention, and why rural communities
In rural communities, distance, limited services, and stigma can put help out of reach when a crisis hits. That makes prevention essential: people need to recognize risk, respond to an overdose, and feel comfortable seeking support before they need it.
opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 Shasta County residents in 2023, compared with 20.8 statewide.
Shasta County adults is a veteran.
Sources: California Department of Health Care Services, using CDPH overdose surveillance data; California Department of Public Health, 2023 Opioid Overdose Deaths; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2017–2021.
Get involved
Become a peer ambassador, partner with us, or share our trainings with your community.