If you're new to The Platia, thank you so much. Let me take a moment to explain what The Platia is, and why I believe happiness and civic success is tied to information sharing.

The Platia [ plat-e-uh] comes from the term for the village meeting space in the Greek mountains where citizens come together to cook, share concerns, and make community decisions. They make action over cups of coffee and enjoy their civic involvement. After years of travel and studying awe and happiness, I saw that we are sorely missing this in the US.

Harm reduction is defined as the practice of reducing the harm associated with drug use. It’s a practice that believes everyone deserves dignity, regardless of their circumstances. But, it also aims to provide resources to people who live in communities that have been impacted by drug policy and laws. 

So, harm reduction includes learning how to use Narcan on a stranger on the street, but it can also mean providing after-school resources in neighborhoods where drugs are likely to impact teens. It can mean making meals for community refrigerators, or understanding how open-air drug markets make it more difficult for nearby immigrant communities to be without grocery stores. It also includes understanding how our own bias and misinformation harms our neighbors.

The Platia investigates how acts of care and putting resources back into the community can create thriving neighborhoods when municipal resources are dwindling, and how we can all be happier for it.

Why make a newsroom focused on harm reduction? Because drug use and homelessness, and enforcement, have an outsized impact on urban areas, cutting off educational and civic resources and creating decades-long harm in our neighborhoods.

How does this newsroom work? The Platia puts the power back in the hands of the community through free and low-cost civic trainings, activities and discussions where you don’t need to be afraid to ask basic questions. We call those "live newsrooms" where you might be writing letters to incarcerated people while learning about the prison system, or crafting charm bracelets while learning deescalation techniques.

At Platia live newsrooms you'll meet mutual aid groups that will inspire you and help you chart the course of where you fit in. We connect audiences with the right organization to fit your skills. You can read about our first 6 months here.

Because you all asked so nicely, I also investigate the bigger concerns that people send in, like encampments being targeted, or food inequality in specific Philly neighborhoods. That includes weekly newsletters of volunteer and mutal aid opportunities.

Our venues are low-cost or free, and other than operating costs for website and materials, all donations go to certified trainers and partnering charities and mutual aid groups. We have a fiscal sponsorship through the Tiny News Collective, a group of micro newsrooms aiming to improve their communities.

This year I hope you'll join us at an event to understand how even small changes can impact your neighborhood. Thanks for reading this, and reach out with any questions.

Annemarie