A group of San Francisco based public health practitioners and community members began organizing in January in response to the City’s attack on drug users and harm reduction services in San Francisco. The Underbelly Project, which symbolizes the under-represented communities of San Francisco, began collecting interviews from unhoused people who use drugs and access harm reduction services. On March 15, the group projected powerful quotes gathered from the transcripts of those interviews on walls at the 24th Street/Mission BART Station—as a way to engage and educate the public. While scrawling messages in defense of harm reduction in street chalk, ambient music played and organizers spoke to folks, gathering contact information from friendly neighbors.
Quotes like “That’s the fundamental problem right there, that we simply don’t have homes, a place to live … It’s illegal to sleep in the city now if you don’t have a home or even sit or lie down – and that’s exhausting” framed the issue of the heightened criminalization of poverty since the Grants Pass decision and throughout the election season, and its effect on exhaustive effects.
Another quote read, “The police are not on our side. They don’t even like us. I’ve been called so many different names. I’m dirty. That I’ll never amount to anything. That I’m a waste of space. One officer told me I should go overdose,” highlighting how SFPD tends to approach community members, who would best be served by nonjudgemental access to comprehensive services, rather than shame and criminalization. The group is continuing to collect interviews and encourages community members to reach out to schedule an interview near the Tenderloin or Mission neighborhoods, and or leave a voicemail at (415) 763-7485 with a short quote or story to be shared.
