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1,000 lights at San Francisco City Hall honor lives lost to overdose
Families, advocates, and city leaders gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall for a candlelight vigil marking International Overdose Awareness Day, and remembering the 1,000 people lost to drug overdoses since the beginning of last year.
SAN FRANCISCO - One thousand lights lined the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Sunday evening, each one representing a life lost to overdose in the city since the start of 2024.
City Hall was lit up in purple for International Overdose Awareness Day, where grieving families, advocates and local officials gathered for the 4th Annual Sunset Vigil: "1,000 Lights for 1,000 Lives," organized by Mothers Against Drug Addiction and Deaths.
Each light represented a loved one - a son, a daughter, a friend - and a life cut short by the drug crisis.
"He was just so proud of himself that day," said Tracy Emerson of Petaluma, who held a smiling photo of her son.
29-year-old Kyle Emerson died a few months ago. Tracy is a recovering addict herself.
"My son was an addict, since he was 14 and he was recently in recovery for 15 months. He was in school to be a firefighter paramedic here in the city, so that he could help say lives and he had a relapse and he died from a fentanyl overdose near the open-air markets down on mission," she said.
A personal fight and a systemic response
Co-founder of MADAAD Jacqui Berlinn also spoke at the vigil, where she shared that her son Corey is currently four months sober.
"People think, 'Oh, just go somewhere and get help. It's not that easy when you don't have a phone and you don't have a watch and you don't have a ride," Berlinn said.
She credited the city’s night navigation teams with helping her son finally connect to care.
"They took him, when he said he was ready to get well, they actually drove him to his methadone clinic, waited for him to get his dose of methadone and then they drove him to his rehabilitation center, and that is something that I've never seen before," she said.
At the vigil, the organization Code Tenderloin was also present, sharing Narcan, support, and other resources.
Mayor Daniel Lurie said his administration is focused on building a system that saves lives.
"We are changing how this city responds to this drug crisis with the support of you in this crowd tonight. Instead of working in silos, we're bringing people together, health workers, outreach teams and SFPD, and our DA's office," he said.
Lurie added the city is adding more treatment beds and has a 24/7 center, where people in crisis can get more stable before entering treatment.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told the crowd her office is actively prosecuting drug dealers.
"We are doing everything we can to make sure that people make sure that this is what's being lost. This isn't about money… it is about murder," she said.