Our organization was started by two women, Brandy and Annie, who worked together in a medical shelter as frontline workers during the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. A few years before that, Brandy had been a patient at that same shelter, and by using harm reduction practices, defined her own recovery path against all odds. Annie, a social worker with a background in academic philosophy, was Brandy’s housing specialist in 2017. When Brandy and Annie worked together later on as colleagues, they bonded over their mutual caring approach towards shelter participants, and their strong belief that the systems of care we navigate through needed radical change. After witnessing horrendous treatment of people who were unhoused and using drugs, and after the sudden death of one beloved participant, Annie and Brandy got together to start talking and planning about what a different kind of program would look like. In those early conversations, The Everly Project was born. Our logo, the pink cassette tape, (designed by Brandy) was inspired by a pair of earrings Annie wore to our first meeting. It symbolizes the love we have for people who use drugs, in the same way making a mixtape was the way to show deep affection and love, in the cassette tape era! The Everly Project is our mixtape to Portland. We love you, stay safe, here is some music that made us think of you.