Harm Reduction Therapy Center

We hope to see you all there! You can see more info and register here: https://forms.gle/RUymowFEXE5zEidu9

Use this link to register: https://forms.gle/TrQwepzJMxKGxwTh6

Join us for a volunteer event! 🌟 We're making fentanyl test kits and could use your help!

🗓️ When: Saturday, June 1st, from 10am to 12pm
📍 Where: 21 Merlin Street, San Francisco

Feel free to drop by, no RSVP required! But if you'd like to let us know you're coming, comment below.

See you there! For any questions, email [email protected].

This March MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving announced HRTC as one of 361 awardee organizations (out of more than 6300 applicants) working with people and in places experiencing the greatest need in the United States. This generous gift couldn’t have come at a better time for HRTC, as our service community is feeling deeply the effects of local and state policies focused on coercive treatment and targeting our unhoused neighbors (such as Prop F in San Francisco and State mandated “care courts”).

Being poor is not a crime. All of us have mental health needs, some more than others. Almost all of us use drugs (many of us legally–caffeine, ni****ne, alcohol, lipitor–and some of us use substances our government criminalizes). Those of us with serious mental health and substance use needs require comprehensive, person-centered, wrap around services that empower and heal us. We need compassionate, inclusive, collaborative and paced care options for our community members who are most vulnerable. We need policing out of treatment; we have repeatedly seen what a knee on the neck of drug users of color in the United States results in and there is no way we can call that care. We need policy that considers the long-term needs of marginalized, traumatized people and advocates for systemic change. We need harm reduction! We need more harm reduction therapy!

We thank Yield Giving for recognizing the needs of San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents and for their confidence in HRTC’s efforts to bring harm reduction therapy to everyone whose relationship with drugs may be of concern.

Read what else we're up to here: https://conta.cc/3WB7tJZ

May 13th-19th is our Buy One, Give One sale with Unite to Light. That means if you purchase the BOGO product on Unite to Light's website, you will be donating one to our fundraiser AND you will receive one. Order here: https://www.unitetolight.org/buy-one--give-one.html #/

🌟 Exciting Announcement! 🌟 HRTC is thrilled to present our summer harm reduction training series! Join us for enlightening sessions led by experts in the field: Maurice Byrd, LMFT, Celia Sampayo Perez, LCSW, and Anna Berg, LCSW. 📚 Don't miss this chance to expand your knowledge and skills in harm reduction practices! Use this link for more information and to sign up! https://forms.gle/99xF8x6Bni6HoQ5j9

Thank you so much to everyone who came out (in the rain!) on Saturday to help us assemble over 1,200!!! safer use kits! We loved spending time with you all and are invigorated by your energy.

THANK YOU!!!

Did you miss the event but would like to join next time? send us a dm or email [email protected]

Our mission statement! Read all about our process of rewriting our mission statement, The State of the Agency and the return to Harm Reduction groups in our latest newsletter! https://conta.cc/480cD4i

These include injectable Narcan kits, fentanyl testing kits, safer smoking kits, and safer injection kits, all carefully tailored to encourage our community members to take control of and help manage their substance use and stay as healthy as possible, safe and alive.

There are several reasons why this is an important part of our agency’s practice:

1 . Safer use kits help prevent both overdoses and the transmission of HIV, Hep-C and Covid.

2 . Per the CDC, community members who seek out harm reduction materials are 5 times more likely to eventually consider counseling and treatment to help manage their substance use.

3 . Having harm reduction supplies at our mobile sites is a key tool in helping our therapists engage in conversations with our community members about their relationship with substance use.

In order to support this critical aspect of our outreach efforts, HRTC will be hosting quarterly volunteer events at our drop in center at 21 Merlin Street. We will be making a variety of harm reduction kits for use in our community programs.

Dates (2024):

March 2nd

June 1st

September 7th

December 7th

email [email protected] with any questions.

Hope to see you there!

Read about our drop-in center in our latest newsletter: https://conta.cc/49jdzCK

DONATE: https://donorbox.org/support-our-drop-in

HRTC believes in showing up for people, our people, in times of need and crisis. It is often systemic barriers that weigh more heavily on vulnerable, marginalized people and whenever possible, if we can offer needed services to people as they need them, we will. As overdose deaths continue to rise in San Francisco, we aim to be a part of the solution and will continue to work to bring needed, tailored services to people who use drugs.

To this end, we seek your partnership and support this Giving Tuesday as we work to offer the full range of connection and service options critical to people who use drugs. Even a modest donation will help us provide hot food, hygiene supplies and clothing to folks at the center. With robust support, we plan to staff our program at Merlin Street longer than the few hours per day we can currently manage–we can’t wait to be available to more people!

Thank you for your support of folks struggling with mental health, substance use and other basic needs–we at HRTC appreciate you.

Click (https://donorbox.org/giving-tuesday-645) to donate to our drop-in

Click (https://conta.cc/49jdzCK) to read the rest of our newsletter and what else we've been up to

Winter Storms Damage HRTC–but not our spirit!

San Francisco rang in the New Year with a storm the likes of which none of us currently working at HRTC can recall having seen before–close to 6 inches of rain fell on December 31, 2022! After San Francisco’s main pump for the SOMA neighborhood failed, HRTC’s main offices took in more than 400 gallons of water, flooding our bathrooms, three therapy offices and milieu space. Our business neighbors experienced similar flooding and our houseless neighbors on Merlin Street spent the weekend walking in two feet of water, many of their belongings swept away or damaged beyond repair. And, of course, the “atmospheric rivers” continued to unload rain for another two weeks.

Click here https://conta.cc/3HSunUd to read the full article and the rest of our Newsletter

Thank you so much for your support!

Donate Here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/harmreductionishealthcare

In the spirit of community and collaboration, HRTC is joining a number of harm reduction service organizations to ask for your support and generosity this Giving Tuesday. Link in bio to donate! We are grateful and encouraged by your support of our work. This year we hope to use funds we receive to help us winterize our street based services (hats, gloves, hand warmers, rain gear) AND open our Merlin St. space for community drop-ins! YOU ROCK and we appreciate you immensely.

Come see us at our booth today, tomorrow and Friday at Exhibit Hall!!

Thank you so much harm reduction community members for showing up and celebrating with us this past friday! We appreciate your presence, your energy, your support of harm reduction and harm reduction therapy and can't thank our community enough for bringing such a smooth vibe to a much-deserved celebration to honor Patt & Jeannie.

After the party Patt and Jeannie said:

"We couldn't be more happy and more grateful for the experience you created for us and the whole community on Friday and for the ongoing joy that is HRTC."

Y'all rock!

Many of you were not able to join us. However your kind words, support of HRTC and harm reduction principles is felt by us always--in so many ways you were there with us at the party too. Thank you for your ongoing support and love for harm reduction!

Thank you once again.

With appreciation and all the harm reduction love,

Anna, Maurice, Celia & Nancie
(HRTC's Leadership Team)

To read more: https://conta.cc/3BpOtn8

Thank you Patt & Jeannie! Now.. Who's the Boss? Read all about HRTC's leadership transition, a wish from Patt & Jeannie and an update on Merlin in our latest newsletter! https://conta.cc/3N7cNgx

Thank you Patt & Jeannie! Now.. Who's the Boss? Read all about HRTC's leadership transition, a wish from Patt & Jeannie and an update on Merlin in our latest newsletter! https://conta.cc/3N7cNgx

Please join us to celebrate Jeannie & Patt's retirement from 22 years of work at HRTC! We want to honor all they have contributed over these many years to Harm Reduction and the compassionate practice of therapy for those who actively use drugs.

July 22nd, 2022, 4:30pm-?
21 Merlin Street, San Francisco

We hope you can join us for a BIG party!

visit our website for more information and to RSVP! www.harmreductiontherapy.org

Harm Reduction Therapy Center updated their phone number.

Harm Reduction Therapy Center updated their address.

🚭 VA**NG IS HARM REDUCTION! Check out our founder, Patt’s, most recent article in . She hasn’t had a cigarette since March! Here’s the link to the full article — let us know your thoughts/ feelings/ questions! https://tinyurl.com/2376w759 **ng ***coharmreduction ***co ***coharmreduction101 ****ne

🧡 Today we celebrated a staff therapist growing her family and another moving on — sending them both the biggest harm reduction hugs and kisses! (P.S sorry we’ve been shadowbanned for so long!)

🌴We got our second van wrapped! This time, with incredible artwork done by . We are in love! And hoping to bring such an essence of rest, nourishment, and care to our community. Say hello when you see us around the city! Winnie may just have a burrito and some harm reduction supplies for your favorite neighbor on hand!

👓 Eye protection during COVID is simultaneously harm reduction AND high fashion 💅🏽⁣
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😷 Providing therapy with full PPE (and in variations of weather!) has been a topic of discussion for our org all through the pandemic. Can you tell we’re just as overjoyed to see clients and community as ever? ⁣
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“Putting trauma work at the front and center of drug treatment makes a big difference. Yet we also need to treat people with empathy and respect outside of treatment. Criminalizing drug users focuses action on drug use rather than the underlying cause.” – Paul Delaney

🐟 CELIA CAUGHT A FISH. Just for fun, a little snapshot into our staff “re-treat” a couple weeks back. The first week our whole staff took some time away from clients during all of COVID, to reorganize and connect in order to come back with full cups for our community. Memo to those in direct service, remember to reel it back a little when you need to. ⁣
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🤍 We love you. Test your drugs. Dis-trust the supply chain a little bit more right now, okay? Take it slow. Don’t use alone.

💉 SWIPE FOR AN AFTER AND BEFORE. 💉⁣
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AND check our story/ org updates for a comprehensive, up-to-date, sharps disposal infographic to-go-with created by our very own Program Support Assistant, James! Thanks for bringing love back into these sharps disposals, James❣️⁣
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Our kind of guerrilla art 🥵⁣
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A delayed but whole-hearted shoutout of gratitude to Common Humanity Collective for all the masks and hand sanitizer donations that have supported the health and well-being of our folx over the last couple months. We’re still out here, perhaps even a bit busier than usual!

⁉️The only “disorder” in the DSM (Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) that requires sufferers to get rid of his or her symptoms BEFORE receiving treatment for the problem. Strange logic right? We’re here to truly encourage a different way of thinking, a compassionate approach to helping people resolve problems with drugs. Problems with drugs are not necessarily diseases, nor are they crimes or sins. Problems with drugs are health issues, stemming from a history of intentional systemic racism, classism, and colonization. Is is truly that radical to meet someone where they are at in their relationship with drugs as they work towards their goals of maintence, Harm Reduction, or abstinence? Is it truly that radical to offer unconditional welcome, respect, curiosity, safety before all else, and real information? Thoughts?

🚙 WE WRAPPED OUR THERAPY VAN in a gorgeous painting made by one of our incredible staff therapists! Now if only we could cure COVID and take CAYA (Come As You Are) back to the streets for free harm reduction therapy. Really missing sharing this space with clients. Our rad founders Patt & Jeannie pictures here. If you see us around the city, be sure to say hello (and get some Narcan & Harm Reduction supplies from us!)...or a therapist! 😉