Harm Reduction Church Project

VOCAL-KY, a grassroots community building organization based in Louisville, KY that works with low-income people

affected by the drug war, HIV/AIDS, mass incarceration and homelessness to get funding from C4AA and Open Society

Foundation in order to create a meaningful and community participatory art project that can shed light on the problem of fatal

drug overdoses, specifically amongst people of color as well as access to life saving medication, like Narcan and harm

reduction services here in Louisville.

This was our second pilot project with C4AA and Open Society Foundations, as we had done one already last summer on

International Overdose Awareness Day. This time we wanted to engage more community members and clergy. We also

wanted to create a free standing sculpture of a large heart that community members can see and touch and use as a

participatory piece, where people are able to move the two parts together, the idea was to have 4 or 5 people from each side

move the two pieces of heart together, thus mendeding our heart in the wake of so much death and community destruction as a result of the 50 year drug war and continues death rates from fatal drug overdoses and the collateral damage of children being left orphaned and families broken apart by the current opioid epidemic.