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From YouTube: Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez's Opening Remarks from PHLCouncil Opioid Crisis Hearing 3-12-18
Description
Councilwoman Maria D. Quiñones-Sánchez (7th District) opens a hearing of the Council Committee on Public Health and Human Services held March 12, 2018 to:
"Assess the City of Philadelphia's efforts, as coordinated by the Managing Director's office and our Human services departments, to prevent and treat abuse, addiction, and disease related to the use of opioids."
View the full hearing: https://youtu.be/1VLxfizkUbM
A
Thank
them.
Thank
you,
madam
chair
I
will
be
brief,
as
I
expect
most
of
our
speakers
to
be
quite
elegant,
eloquent
in
their
presentations
around
what
has
been,
in
many
cases,
tremendous
work
and
stride
by
folks
to
grapple
with
what
everybody,
both
the
president
and
the
governor
has
identified
as
America's
crisis.
I
particularly
want
to
thank
the
stakeholders
and
the
community
folks
who've
been
on
the
ground
and
have
done
everything
they
can
to
be
as
supportive
as
they
possibly
can.
A
Why
the
resolution
and
why,
this
time
I
think
it's
hugely
important,
that
those
of
us
in
policy
positions
and
the
community
understand
what
in
fact
the
city
is
doing,
there's
millions,
if
not
billions,
of
dollars
invested
in
the
opioid
situation
in
the
city,
we've
seen
additional
resources
added
and
commitments
by
the
governor
and
the
president
I
think.
It's
only
fitting
that
at
this
particular
time
we
have
a
public
discussion.
Let
me
emphasize
that
a
public
discussion
about
where
your
money
is
going.
A
What
policies
are
do
we
have
in
place
what
regulations
we
have
in
place
and
what
are
the
barriers,
those
created
by
the
bureaucracy,
those
managed
by
the
bureaucracy?
So
that
we
can
meet
people
where
they
are
and
help
them
through
this
lifetime
situation
and
at
the
same
time
manage
the
quality
of
life
and
its
impact
and
minimizing
the
impact
it
has
on
residents
and
neighbors
I.
Think
that
in
all
of
my
years
in
community
development,
work
and
I've
been
at
this
for
a
minute
30
plus
years
never
have
I.
A
Seen
such
a
complicated
layered
situation
as
I
see
in
the
community,
I
will
be
unapologetic
in
my
defense
for
everyone
in
my
district,
but
in
particularly
the
young
people
who
now
have
we
have
almost
normalized.
What
is
not
normal,
those
of
us
as
we
sit
back
and
we
theorize
about
what
we
should
be
doing,
really
need
to
pay
more
attention
and
I
have
a
graphic
that
I
will
be
putting
up
it's
a
photo
Andre.
If
you
could
put
that
up.
A
This
was
set
to
me
recently
through
Instagram
by
one
of
the
shutterbug
shutterbug
is
a
small
group
of
photographers
out
of
Stetson.
It's
a
group
that
we
sponsor
and
it's
an
Instagram
that
he
that
he
has
and
Javier
explains
it
the
best
he
takes
a
picture
of
trash
and
he
talks
about
what
happens
underneath
those
tracks
every
day
the
people
that
he
wants
to
be
sympathetic
to,
but
at
the
same
time
feels
extremely
distraught
at
the
fact
that
he
can't
walk
through
there
and
that
at
night,
unseemly
things
happen
there.
A
It
is
because
of
Javier
and
others
that
we
have
to
be
focused
intentional
and
much
quicker.
At
addressing
this
situation.
The
the
residents
of
Quezon
ten
in
the
area
that
both
councilman
seola
and
I
represent
have
been
patient.
They've
rolled
up
their
sleeves
they've
cleaned
streets
with
us,
they've
done
everything
that
they
can
and
yet
they're
still
at
basta
ya,
basta
ya.
There
is
only
but
so
much
you
can
take.
A
It
is
sad
when
I
sit
and
talk
to
the
seniors
who
live
at
Somerset
villas,
who
tell
me
Maria,
I,
can't
even
walk
over
to
Quezon
tend
to
do
my
daily
shoppings
there's
a
hundred
of
plus
seniors
who
are
trapped
in
their
apartment,
complex
over
on
Somerset
villas.
This
is
not
a
creation
of
one
thing
and
there's
definitely
enough
blame
to
go
around.
A
So
I
want
to
thank
all
of
you
from
the
beginning.
I
want
us
to
be
respectful
in
our
disagreements,
respectful
in
our
passion,
there's
no
one
more
passionate
than
this
fierce,
nothing,
not
in
front
of
you.
But
let
me
tell
you
that
never
have
I
felt
more
committed
and
and
more
optimistic,
because
I
do
know
that
the
stakeholders
on
the
ground
who've
been
doing
this
are
just
as
committed
to
do
this
and
well
I
want
to
do
here
is
figure
out
how
government
helps
and
how
government
stays
out
of
the
way.