Invisibilized Intersections

Join us for "Invisibilized Intersections," a panel on Culturally Informed Harm Reduction in a Toxic Drug Crisis.
About this Event

2026 marks a decade since the toxic drug supply and overdose crisis was first declared a provincial health emergency in B.C., and the 25th anniversary of International Overdose Awareness Day. Throughout this crisis, harm reduction measures and the efforts of countless frontline workers are critical to saving as many lives as possible, especially within the shared neighbourhood of the Downtown Eastside, Hogan’s Alley, and Chinatown. How does this work intersect with the many racialized communities who are connected to this neighbourhood? Who might be invisibilized in conversations about local drug policy, and who else might still be slipping through the cracks?  

  

Join us for a panel discussion to hear more about the local intersections between racialized communities and harm reduction, and to expand the conversation on culturally informed ways of practicing harm reduction.  

 

Moderator:  

• Tyson Singh Kelsall ਟਾਈਸਨ ਸਿ ੰਘ — P.O.W.E.R., SFU Faculty of Sciences  

Panelists:  

• qiyəp=təna:t (Alicia Williams) — plant medicine, V6A Garden - xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, semá:th  

• Bing Yan — former frontline worker SRO Collaborative, volunteer with VANDU, and PhD student in anthropology at the University of British Columbia 

• Udokam Iroegbu — Director, Strategic Projects at Hogan’s Alley Society  

  

This event is being organized by hua foundation and Hogan’s Alley Society, in partnership as part of the Co-Share Collective.  

Transit
Closest Train Station: Stadium–Chinatown Station (approximately 15 min walk).
Lines: Expo Line.
Alternative Station: Main St-Science World Station (approximately 16 min walk).
Lines: Expo Line.
Closest Bus Stop: EB E Cordova St @ Main St (about 1 min walk). EB E Cordova St @ Main St
Routes: 4, 7, 209; additional routes including 3, 8, 14, 16, 210 and 211 are available nearby. Plan your trip with TransLink’s Trip Planner.

Parking
Paid Street Parking: Metered street parking is available around 312 Main, including along E Cordova St, Main St, E Pender St, and surrounding streets; restrictions and rates vary by block & parking is first come, first served.
Nearby Paid Parkades: Impark - 205 Main & Powell Lot; Impark - 901 Main Street Lot; and EasyPark Lot 4 - 107 E Cordova St. Some additional parkades are available nearby

Accessibility

We are committed to creating accessible experiences for attendees in person and online. Please reach out to us in advance or at the event to express any access requests, to ask questions, or to offer feedback about accessibility. Live sign language interpretation is available upon request. Please contact us at [email protected] or call 778-383-9776 ext.1

About the Organizers

Hogan’s Alley Society (HAS) is a Black-led non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, economic, and cultural well-being of people of African descent in Metro Vancouver. Our work centers on three strategic pillars: culturally informed housing, nonprofit housing development, and community engagement. We lead in developing Afrocentric, affordable housing, particularly through our Hogan's Alley Block initiative, a catalyst for enrichment and belonging grounded in one of Canada's few Black-led Community Land Trusts, to ensure long-term affordability, and prevent further displacement.

hua foundation is a youth empowerment non-profit working on racial equity and civic engagement issues on unceded territories and lands, in particular, those of the three title-holding Nations: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Our work lives at the intersection of cultural heritage and social change. We are based in Vancouver’s Chinatown and have been working for years alongside youth and community members from the Asian diaspora.

The Co-Share Collective is made up of the following organizations: Chinatown Celebration Society, Hogan’s Alley Society, hua foundation, & UBC Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement. Composed of organizations working in the Chinatown and Hogan’s Alley neighbourhoods, who have long contended with colonial legacies of divide and conquer tactics, our coalition is a bold experiment in wondering: what else is possible when we dare to uplift each other? Together, we seek to bring our communities with us through the challenges we face to imagine new possibilities for what an anti-racist and decolonial future can look like.