Harm reduction in Kensington saved my sister’s life

In April, my 27-year-old sister came to Philadelphia from Virginia after a short, court-mandated stay in a rehab facility, drawn to Kensington for the drug markets. She began living on the streets, hoping to quit her habit and leave once she got enough of a fix, or once she tired of experiencing homelessness.

After a long summer, she hit bottom and went missing. Instead of spending last July Fourth with my family and my children, I spent the evening driving up and down Kensington Avenue, searching for her after a series of concerning text messages said she was afraid for her safety.

I encountered dozens of police officers standing in McPherson Square. I approached one officer and was quickly rebuffed. When I asked if they could pass around a photo of my sister in case she was seen, they seemed not to care. My sister, in their eyes, was disposable.

I spent the rest of that evening watching drug dealers distributing in plain sight of those same officers without facing repercussions or arrest. People dying of addiction lay in the street while the rest of Kensington stepped over them. That week, I called every available service the city offers. Not one was able to help me find my sister.

I eventually came across Savage Sisters, and within 24 hours, it found her. Prevention Point allowed my sister a safe place to shower and contact me. Savage Sisters reversed her overdose. Finally, after months of slow progress, she is now safely in a long-term rehab program.

Harm prevention services fill the gaps in city-funded services, yet city leaders seem unwilling to realize how essential they are. City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada is putting Philadelphia on a path to remove these organizations from Kensington entirely. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker wants “not one city dollar” used for sterile syringe distribution.

If Parker truly wants to shut down the drug market in Kensington, she needs to go after dealers, not the people suffering from addiction.

When I first learned of the harm reduction movement, I admit I was skeptical. I believed it was a choice to use these substances and that harm reduction was just facilitating addiction.

After my experiences this summer, my debt to our city’s harm reduction organizations can never be repaid. In my capacity as a surgeon, I started volunteering with Savage Sisters’ wound care sessions and training its staff on how to dress “tranq” wounds. I have since changed my approach to people with substance use disorders in my own practice from a position of judgment to one of empathy.

Savage Sisters did not bring the drug market to Kensington, nor does it act as a safe injection site. Anyone who says differently has never been there. Its mission is to “attack addiction ferociously with radical love and connection.” It understands that arresting people and forcing them into rehab is not an effective way of bringing about long-term recovery.

“Arresting our way out of this” is a known approach that has failing results. In the last year, Savage Sisters was able to connect 664 people with rehab services and treat 324 overdoses with Narcan. According to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, in 2022 alone, there were over 1,400 overdose-related deaths in the city. Without Savage Sisters, there would likely be many more.

My sister has been sober for nearly five months, and she is doing well on her road to recovery. The experience of finding her through Savage Sisters, having it help her to recover, and allowing me to help it has made me a better doctor, a more patient father, and a kinder brother and husband.

I know firsthand that harm reduction organizations have a superior track record to any other organization in the city when it comes to getting people to recovery. Harm reduction makes that road easier to travel for people experiencing addiction. These organizations are not supporting drug dealers, nor are they leading to an increase in use or death — look directly to the dealers and the lack of policing for years in Kensington for that.

I invite the mayor and the Kensington Caucus to sit down with me or my friends in harm reduction to have a real, clear-eyed discussion about the best way forward.

Jamaal Shaban is a board-certified general surgeon who has been a resident of Philadelphia for the last 10 years.