CONTACT:
Gabby Deyi
gdeyi@glide.org – (510) 322-0744
GLIDE HONORS OVERDOSE AWARENESS MONTH WITH COMMUNITY PANEL
The organization has been an integral part of the charge in Harm Reduction and will host the community in conversation about the current drug crisis for a more safe and equitable San Francisco
San Francisco, CA (August 17th, 2023) – August is International Overdose Awareness Month and GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice and GLIDE Memorial Church will be honoring this month with a lunch and discussion on Sunday, August 27 from 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM with experts in the field of substance use treatment, overdose prevention, and community health.
The conversation in GLIDE’s Freedom Hall (330 Ellis St. San Francisco) will explore best practices and deepen the understanding of current community-based strategies regarding drug overdose and treatment options. GLIDE is hosting the conversation in partnership with the Safer Inside and Treatment on Demand Coalitions.
The moderator of the panel will be Sam Rivera, Time’s 100 List 2023 honoree and Executive Director of OnPoint NYC. To date, OnPoint NYC operates the only overdose prevention centers in the USA. Panelists are Michael Discepola GLIDE, Director of Health Access at GLIDE, Lydia Bransten, Executive Director of the Gubbio Project, Dr. Leslie Suen, Physician/Professor/Researcher at UCSF, and Rebecca Jackson, Director of Cameo House at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice.
Those attending the panel, including the media, are welcome to attend Sunday Celebration at 11am beforehand. Sam Rivera, moderator of the panel, will also deliver a keynote speech at service beginning at 11:30am.
Following the service, the panel will be opened with a spoken word piece by San Francisco’s Skywatchers. After the panel, there will be a question and answer portion for the audience. We encourage the Press to participate in this portion of the conversation. In addition, there will be a meet and greet opportunity with panelists at the end of the event.
This event is part of GLIDE’s six month #ReturnToCommunity campaign to celebrate the return of in person, radically inclusive events and programming. GLIDE kicked off this campaign with the reopening of dining services on July 6.
GLIDE is an organization at the forefront of addressing society’s most pressing issues, such as poverty, homelessness, and racial and social justice. The organization is based in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco – an area that faces some of the highest rates of overdose deaths in the entire city. The organization, along with their previously mentioned partners, have led the charge in prevention of overdose deaths through the Harm Reduction approach.
###
ABOUT GLIDE:
GLIDE is a nationally recognized center for social justice, dedicated to fighting systemic injustices, creating pathways out of poverty and crisis, and transforming lives. Through our integrated comprehensive services, advocacy initiatives, and inclusive community, we empower individuals, families, and children to achieve stability and thrive. GLIDE is on the forefront of addressing some of society’s most pressing issues, including poverty, housing, homelessness, and racial and social justice. GLIDE’s mission is to create a radically inclusive, just, and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization. Our Core Values emerge from GLIDE as a spiritual movement. They are rooted in empowerment.