Outreach coordinator
West Oakland Punks With Lunch
Oakland, California
My name is Katie (Kate) O 'Bryant, I am the Outreach Coordinator at West Oakland Punks With Lunch. We are a volunteer run collective who serves unhoused populations throughoit West Oakland by distrobution HRX, supplies, as well as food, and peer based case managment, etc.
I am a Bay Area native, who left home at 16 and lived on the streets of SF throughout the early 2000s. I worked for a non profit which employed homeless kids. I have remained working with individuals in this field to overcome the challenges of surviving without stable housing,(or housing at all), chaotic drug use, trauma, negotiating the criminal justice system, etc. I was a published journalist by my late teens and used that oppertunity ro address many of these issues.
I have been on Methadone and Suboxone at different times respectively, and though I was able to taper down to minute doses of both, I was never able to fully disengage from it. Plant Medicine was much more helpful in that regard, for me.
I am a graduate of both the Prop 36 and various recovery programs , so I am very familiar with traditional treament models. For several years I have facilitated a radical substance use support group for people in any and all stages of our relationships with the substances we use. I do not believe there is any one way to deal with drug use and the ways it can effect our lives as users in this puritanical and punitive society.
However, I do think we all need support of some kind if we are attempting to change the way we use, what we use, or that we use. I am not of the mindset that everyone who is using should aspire to abstinence. I firmly believe in Harm Reduction, and working with people to let them twll ys what they need and what they have found works for them.
I have battled with mental health issues like depression (suicide) and anxiety for most of my life. I share the common experiences of others dealing with drug addiction, incarceration, homelessness, dual- diagnosis, chronic debilitating health conditions (Hep C), and court mandated (or coerced) recovery. I have overcome the various obstacles in my life to find myself in a position to hopefully help others. I have always enjoyed working with people from my community who are struggling with similar challenges.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
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