My Overdose Will Not Be Tragic

The Archive of Heather Edney + The Santa Cruz Needle Exchange

On view: July 7, 2022 - August 27, 2022

Tenderloin Museum presents My Overdose Will Not Be Tragic, a gallery exhibition of fliers, zines, and related ephemera from the archive of Heather Edney 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.

On Thursday, July 7, 2022 from 5:30-7:30pm, the Tenderloin Museum will host an opening reception and panel discussion about the revolutionary history of the Santa Cruz Needle Exchange featuring Greg Ellis, curator at Ward 5B; Heather Edney, the first Executive Director of Santa Cruz Needle Exchange; Rokki Baker, former president of the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates & SCNEP volunteer; Augie Loya, SCNEP volunteer; Brooke Lober, co-creator of “junkphood” & SCNEP volunteer; and Denise Elerich, the current Executive Director of the Harm Reduction Coalition of Santa Cruz County. Mask-wearing will be required. To learn more about Heather Edney, visit her website at: https://www.heatheredney.com/. 

Content Warning: drug use, strong language.