harmreduction:
Street Wise: Cyndee Clay constantly walks the...
Street Wise: Cyndee Clay constantly walks the intersection of society and sex, survival and discrimination in an effort to uncover the humanity hidden by stigma - Interview by Will O'Bryan, Photography by Todd Franson
One of the things HIPS is trying to do is take a step back and change people's thinking from the knee-jerk reaction – "Let's get the prostitutes off the streets. Let's get more law enforcement to tackle this problem." – to the unintended consequences of those positions and those laws. Let's address some root causes. Residents are concerned about things like trash and traffic. These are issues we can deal with. And we can deal with them without putting people in jail.
We're really there to protect people's health and not to make judgments about whether theyshould or shouldn't be there, because that's the first step in gaining people's respect and starting the conversation about changes they want to make in their lives.
- Great interview with our friend Cyndee Clay from the wonderful HIPS! I had the privilege of being a volunteer with Cyndee back in her early HIPS days…it's so cool to see how far she's brought that program…lots of love to Cyndee and the whole HIPS crew!!
