My Overdose Will Not Be Tragic - Opening Reception

398 Eddy Street,San Francisco CA 94102

13 January, 2022

Description

Tenderloin Museum presents My Overdose Will Not Be Tragic, a gallery exhibition of the Heather Edney Archive and SCNEP Tenderloin Museum presents My Overdose Will Not Be Tragic, a gallery exhibition of fliers, zines, and related ephemera from the Heather Edney Archive and the Santa Cruz Needle Exchange Program (SCNEP). Curated by Greg Ellis, Director of Ward 5B, this body of work provides important historical context for how harm reduction is practiced today; it also paints a portrait of young, grassroots organizers who tapped into a subcultural zeitgeist to compassionately care for people who use drugs in the name of public health. As the first Executive Director of SCNEP, Heather Edney created one of the earliest feminist-run harm reduction agencies in the United States. Throughout the 1990’s, Heather and a dedicated team of volunteers engineered an innovative DIY organization that utilized punk aesthetics, Feminist & Queer theory, cutting-edge harm reduction modalities as well as creating one of the first risk reduction models that included holistic healthcare practices. As the fourth authorized syringe exchange program in the U.S., SCNEP was groundbreaking in its work with young injection drug users and sex workers. They spearheaded the first Hepatitis A & B vaccination campaign in the State of California, partnering with UCSF researching the practices of young people who inject drugs in and around the Haight Ashbury, Polk, Mission, SoMA, and Tenderloin neighborhoods of San Francisco. Their revolutionary ideas and programs remain the bedrock of harm reduction today. Edney and her colleagues created one of the earliest informational zines, titled "junkphood," which was written by and for young people who inject. This educational material was responsible for expanding the field of harm reduction through wound care, overdose prevention, and a host of similar modalities. They were also the first syringe exchange program that designed services specifically for women and were at the vanguard of bringing the voice of feminism into the national harm reduction movement. Join us for an opening reception in-person at the Tenderloin Museum on Thursday, January 13, 2021, at which Heather Edney (Communication Director, Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, Co-founder, Skid Rover) will give a presentation on the archive and the history of harm reduction, followed by a conversation between Ellis, Edney, and Brooke Lober, Harm Reduction Director at St. James Infirmary; Roxanne Baker, former President on the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates; Johnny Edney, Artist - COO/CMO Tarantula Hill Brewing Co.; and Augie Loya, former SCNEP volunteer and the Youngest Harm Reductionist in the United States. Vaccinations and mask-wearing will be required, please register to attend via Eventbrite. To learn more about Heather Edney, visit her website at: https://www.heatheredney.com/. Content Warning: drug use, strong language. The Tenderloin Museum celebrates the rich history of one of San Francisco's most overlooked neighborhoods?. Through history exhibitions, resident-led walking tours, community programs, and the presentation of original artwork, the Tenderloin Museum invites all comers to learn about the roots of our dynamic neighborhood, and reclaim our city's past and future. The 31 blocks of the Tenderloin District are a microcosm of San Francisco, peopled by immigrants and iconoclasts, artists and activists, sinners and saints. All are welcome to join us in telling its story.