Hello From Your Local Ho-Clinic, St James Infirmary! |
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We’ve gone through a lot of changes this year as many organizations have, living through a pandemic. Changing the way we provide services has certainly been a challenge. We miss having our Drop-in room filled with participants and eating meals together.
The incredible staff at St James has adjusted and continued to provide excellent harm reduction services including medical services, outreach, syringe access, housing through the OurTransHome program, and mental health services. We are providing a lot more to-go meals and groceries than ever before.
The leadership of our organization is working on restructuring to become more of a co-directorship model and the entire org has committed to racial justice and building more equity working with a consultant group.
Although 2020 has been a challenging year for sex workers all over the world, our sense of community continues to bring strength and hope for a better future.
If you’d like to contribute to St James’ work, consider making a donation here: Donate Here
Join us this Saturday for a ho-liday online event to celebrate our resilient sex worker community.
Check out our activities with the Outreach and Mental Health teams and note: we are hiring (see info below).
Sex workers: stay in touch and reach out to us if you need services and resources. 415-554-8494 St. James Infirmary
Stay safe and we’re all wishing you Happy Ho-lidaze and a wonderful new year!
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Today, December 17th, is Recognized Internationally as the Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers. |
This day was first established in 2003 as a vigil for the victims of the Green River killer. Since then the day has been observed internationally as a remembrance and an act of resistance to a system that not only allows but participates in the violence and murder committed against sex workers worldwide.
In this shocking year of 2020, the world has been focused on overlapping crises: the COVID pandemic, which has taken many lives, and also on the epidemic of police violence. From our perspectives as sex workers and former sex workers, advocating for the dignity of our communities, St. James Infirmary joins in the struggle against police and prisons by demanding an end to the criminalization of sex work. The violence of policing and incarceration causes misery for people who are targeted by the punishment system, disproportionately people of color and poor people--including sex workers. The criminalization of sex work harms sex workers and their communities directly. It leads to more forms of violence, as stigmatized sex workers experience reduced chances for the forms of protection and well-being that all people deserve. We invite you to join St. James Infirmary in our anti-criminalization efforts, recognizing sex work as work that is entitled to all of the benefits, protections, and respect that all forms of labor deserve. Join us in not only remembering those who have lost their lives in an oppressive state but in solidarity as we work towards a safer and empowered world for sex workers.
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Notes from The Naughty Nurse Mobile |
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Dearest Community,
It’s been a while since I’ve written a Notes from The Naughty Nurse Mobile. It’s been a hectic year for so many of us, right?! As essential frontline workers, we are serving the most marginalized of our communities. Those living and working on the streets, POC, immigrants, Black folks, Trans folks especially trans women, femme spectrum, non-binary, drug users, disabled folks, poor/broke/unemployed, and those of us serving our communities are at greater risk of getting sick, depressed and dying. We are doing our best to support and serve our communities with Love, money, supplies, coats, food, resources, therapy, housing, and more. We work hard because we love our communities! We appreciate the appreciation expressed for frontline workers and a yearlong paid all expenses paid vacation with a hot tub and pool would be nice when this is all over! But seriously if you can support a frontline worker in whatever way you can cuz we are working hard and stressed af! All our programs are working hard, from our mental health team to housing to community health and harm reduction.
The outreach team has faced challenges this year like all of us. Of course, we started the year with a global pandemic, One of our very dear participants passed away, the brilliant artist, Ronnie Goodman. Our van was broken into, trashed and some things stolen. We’ve also had successes like the delivery service and fun and laughs and a sense of community. I think for many of us a sense of usefulness and community has been really important to get through this time. Long time HIV test counselor and outreach team member Sylvia sadly has left our team and is doing great work in political organizing. One of our team members Natasha has moved on to be a navigation coordinator for our trans housing program and we are very proud of her. The outreach team is also proud to introduce 2 new staff. Teri has come back to work with us again and Amina has joined outreach from our Community Advisory Board! They are both awesome and working hard to support our communities! We continue to deliver groceries, produce, and more to our participants at home, supplies to our participants in the streets, especially our sex workers, support syringe access services and harm reduction, support our clinic-based services like our flagship Wednesday Night Clinic, Stride Trans Clinic and Mujeres Translatinas En Acción with all precautions to ensure safety to the best of our ability. This has been a long, hard, stressful year! Please take care of yourselves and that includes reaching out for support, love, and inspiration! We need it! You need it! We all need it! We will get through this shit! We will survive and even thrive! Let’s welcome 2021 and some ease and more Love! Peace!
Love, Celestina, the Outreach Team, all St James Infirmary Staff and Community, and the Naughty Nurse Mobile
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St James Infirmary Presents:
A Winter Sextice Ho-liday Party!
Saturday, December 19th, 8-10 pm
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The Mental Health Team is Hiring a New Part-Time Clinician! |
Calling all therapists who love supporting sex workers to be their best selves! Come join a dynamic and caring team of therapists and meet some of the best clients you could dream of. This year we humbly served 35 sex workers in our mental health program and successfully made the switch to telehealth therapy to meet the needs of our community during Covid. Here's hoping we will be back in person soon in 2021! Interested? Check out the job posting here and send your resume and cover letter to corrie.varga@stjamesinfirmary.org.
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Shirts, Tanks and Hoodies! |
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St. James Infirmary
730 Polk Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94109
Main (415) 554-8494 | Fax: (415) 554-8444
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