Savage Sisters Recovery, a nonprofit that provides harm reduction resources to residents, is being forced out of Kensington. 

But the team believes doing so would cause the situation in Kensington to worsen, writes Jessica Kartalija for CBS News Philadelphia.

“We do a lot of hard, ugly, brutal work day in and day out, reversing overdoses and serving a community of individuals that have basically been forgotten, and to know that we are advocating for them and working so hard and to know that our leaders are disregarding that work is disheartening,” Sarah Laurel, executive director of Savage Sisters Recovery, said. 

City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada has asked SHIFT Capital, the real estate developer who owns the building that houses Savage Sisters, to terminate the organization’s storefront lease.

The reason? To rid Kensington of illegal drug activity and harm reduction groups.

“They allow for people to publicly inject whatever controlled substances they are using in front of their establishment, inside their establishment,” Lozada said.

SHIFT Capital has obliged.

Savage Sisters, however, is fighting to stay and highlighting its positive impact.

Laurel pushed the fact that the nonprofit has been able to save 300 lives in the past year while serving more than 13,000 in substance abuse treatment. 

Read more about the battle between a nonprofit and councilmember in CBS News Philadelphia. 

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