More nostalgia for the 90s

So, I’m not actually nostalgic for shooting heroin (at least, not most days) but The Lower East Side Needle Exchange was such an iconic institution in the mid-nineties (with such an iconic, ACT-UP-style shirt).  The needle exchanges I used in Cambridge and San Francisco had none of the same glamor, and certainly none of the same user-centered vibe. And by the time I was volunteering for the Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center in 2003, they had become a financially struggling non-profit, and I spent my first year mopping and making condoms packs in the drop in center because they were too understaffed to do outreach (eventually they let me lead the Saturday outreach to Tompkins Square park, and I had a lot more fun). I’ve been listening to the amazing Harm Reduction Coalition podcasts and getting totally reinspired about Harm Reduction.