On March 21, TNDC’s Supportive Housing Overdose Prevention Network (SHOPN) hosted a special event in partnership with SkyWatchers, a community arts organization based in the Tenderloin. Through spoken word, performance art, and screen printing by Poster Syndicate, this event fostered dialogue and deepened connections among residents.
“We want to work with our residents to bring in their voices and create a more engaging, relationship-building process,” Liu said.
The event, Tending to Our Loins, launched the working group dedicated to community solutions to the challenges of addiction and overdose in the Tenderloin. Led by Kevin Liu, TNDC’s Overdose Prevention and Outreach Coordinator, SHOPN fosters resident-led discussions and solutions through structured and ongoing engagement.
“I learned a lot from being here,” said resident Regi Meadows about SkyWatchers. “And I love all people here, and this is just not a group of actors, it is a group of family, that's right. We're also, all of us, are a part of the family that God made. We are the family of man.”
SHOPN operates through sustained community engagement, welcoming resident leaders from diverse backgrounds, including those with lived experience of drug addiction. The group, which officially convened in December, primarily consists of residents from TNDC housing communities in the Tenderloin, including the Ambassador, West, and Ritz Hotels, as well as the Kelly Cullen Community—all neighborhood single room occupancy buildings (SROs.)
"The mission of SHOPN is very important, because it’s important to listen to and get to know the community so that services can be geared toward them,” said SkyWatcher member and former SRO resident, Shabonne Slonia Allen, “Being in early sobriety, community was healing and once I started meeting other people and developing a respect, appreciation and connection, then I was able to move on to bigger issues such as advocacy and outreach.”
SkyWatchers’ practices out of TNDC’s Kelly Cullen Community and the event’s performances promoted themes of resilience, recovery and collective empowerment.
Grounded in radical empathy and solidarity, SHOPN’s mission is to drive systemic change by addressing the root causes of overdose and addiction. Through regular meetings, members collaborate on community-driven solutions to the drug crisis. Liu facilitates workshops on harm reduction, housing first principles, addiction treatment modalities, and holistic supports for individuals transitioning out of homelessness.
“SHOPN helped me be involved with the people, instead of hiding inside all the time,” said TNDC resident and SHOPN member Ray Orfiano, “I enjoy being able to be of service to my community.”
With a commitment to community-driven solutions, SHOPN is charting a path forward—one built on collaboration, education, and support.
"We're concerned about our friends and our families and our community, so we're working on this to improve the overall health of our community," Liu said.
