Winter Storms Damage HRTC–but not our spirit!

Celia Sampayo Perez, Anna Berg & Nancie Jann after installing sandbags at Merlin

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.

In the midst of running damage control and an impromptu water remediation team, HRTC needed to close our Merlin Street offices for services. This was particularly difficult during a time of such extreme weather when many of our clients and neighbors most needed additional support. While we worked with insurance, our kind landlord, water remediation folks and roofers, we also needed to pivot our services and find ways to continue to support our clients as best we could.

On our wishlist:

Socks

Hats

Gloves

Hand warmers

A Portable Power Station

Coffee Supplies Therapy Chairs

Space Heaters

Air Purifiers

DONATE HERE

AMAZON WISHLIST

True to our mission, even while often personally taxing, our team rose to the occasion. Instead of morning coffee and drop-in therapy services at Merlin Street, our team made coffee, gathered yogurt, hats, ponchos and gloves (thank you HRTC donors!!!), donned their own rain gear and went tent-to-tent, door-to-door to check on our people. We shared resources for winter and rain shelters, made phone calls on behalf of folks and charged cell phones. Our mobile teams continued to provide services throughout the City at our outdoor pop-up sites, as well as HYA Syringe Exchange and Hospitality House programs. Our massage partners at Care Through Touch joined us throughout each mobile site, working under a canopy that staff creatively secured to withstand the wind. And our Hospitality House partners offered us additional onsite office space to allow us to see many of our Merlin Street therapy clients in person there. Go Team! Go Community!

While we still have a ways to go in getting Merlin Street up and running as the community and low-threshold integrated substance use and mental health center we envision, we hope to be able to re-open our building soon for limited drop-in and therapy clients. We could use all the power of community and welcome any donation you can send our way for Merlin Street!

It is with the supportive power from you and our partners, as well as our dedicated, passionate team, that opening Merlin Street again will be possible. Thank you for your support of our work here at HRTC. We are so appreciative to have you as part of our community.

Celia, Nancie, Maurice, Anna

HRTC’s Leadership Team

Our History Informs Our Present

This February, during Black history month, HRTC seeks to remind us all that Black history is AMERICAN history. That violence targeting Black people and other communities of color is rooted in the racist history of this country and is our past showing up in our present. This January alone: Tyre Nichols and Anthony Lowe Jr. were murdered by police. Suspected gang violence caused the murders of the Parraz family in Goshen, CA. And the mass shootings in Half Moon Bay, Oakland, and Monterey Park killed close to 20 people and hit our Asian American community particularly hard. It is disheartening to write those few sentences, as it must be to read them. More difficult to imagine what those who have survived are experiencing.

Just as we know that strong community and healthy connection are the antidotes to chaotic and unhealthy drug use, we know that community building, advocacy and compassionate support are the antidotes to gun violence, police force and other systemic brutality. It is our mission at HRTC to help create space and care for the most vulnerable among us by extending our hand, offering a smile and hello, especially during the roughest of times. It is community that cushions and heals, that can transform to demand justice and change. We ask you to join us in turning towards, not away, from each other. We are, and always will be, stronger together.

HRTC Site Spotlight

Joe Sciarrillo, LCSW, Community Based Therapist

The Shotwell Camp or Cesar Chavez Safe Sleeping Site or just “Shotwell,” as many residents call it, houses approximately 50 residents in tents, spanning two former parking lots. It borders Shotwell Street and South Van Ness Ave along the Cesar Chavez Street corridor and was created by the City & County of San Francisco during the swift rise of the COVID pandemic.

HRTC therapists continue to do weekly site visits at the Cesar Chavez safe sleeping site. The visits include wellness checks, outdoor therapy sessions, coordination and referrals to street medicine teams, advocacy for housing applications, education around public health and how to access public benefits, as well as the distribution of Narcan and harm reduction supplies.

Staff members continue to be invited back to the site week after week due to the high demand for one on one therapy in a way that meets people where they are at. Many clients highlight the benefits of having therapists meet them on site rather than deal with the barriers of leaving their belongings and pets unattended while taking public transport to a therapy office.

As the city continues to struggle with the epidemic of 600-700 overdose deaths per year, there is a common request for residents who want to talk to HRTC staff about the trauma and challenges of navigating the harsh realities on the streets. One resident told us that our weekly Narcan distribution allowed him to administer 3 Narcans to a neighbor who was having an overdose. Thankfully, the neighbor survived. Another resident credits his weekly therapy sessions as a major reason why he was able to start a food cart business. Seeing residents speak to their empowerment to keep their community afloat and thriving makes us want to keep coming back.

Between January 1, 2022-Dec. 31, 2022:

HRTC Clinicians provided 11,771 therapy sessions across 18 service sites.

Additionally, we provided 16,281 outreach contacts to houseless or marginally housed San Francisco residents, reaching more than 1500 unique individuals.

Some of the Shotwell tents in the upper parking lot

Joe Sciarrillo & Erin Lochary at Shotwell

The Shotwell camp view

HRTC in the Media

Maurice Byrd, Andrew Tatarsky & Danielle Herrera

Reconsider's Addiction and Recovery Invitational Gathering

Reconsider invited some thought leaders in substance use and treatment to discuss best practices and approaches to substance use treatment while considering the incorporation of psychedelic and plant medicine into the field.

Maurice Byrd, HRTC's Director of Training, joined the gathering and can be seen in a video HERE