SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The fentanyl crisis has redefined drug overdoses in a way never before seen with other opioids.

And San Francisco has thrown money, resources, time and energy into — not so much solving the problem — but getting a handle on the number of deaths caused by fentanyl.

San Francisco’s health department, sometimes criticized for not doing enough to encourage people to enter drug treatment programs, is focusing on a different kind of recovery campaign.

On Wednesday, those who had undergone treatment were displayed on message boards to encourage others to seek help.

The campaign features nine people in recovery who have successfully undergone treatment. The “Living Proof” campaign coincides with the expansion of the city’s treatment-on-demand program.

Last May, we followed the health department’s night navigation team as they offered people on the street a consultation with an on-call doctor who could prescribe medication and offer treatment to try to wean them off fentanyl and other opioids.

“In one month, we had over 200 prescriptions that we could write and nine people in rehab,” said Douglas Liu, a night navigator last May.

MORE: Bay Area Researchers Develop Powerful Fentanyl Blocker ‘Subetadex’

A month later, in June, the number of accidental overdoses decreased and continued to be lower. So far this year, from January to September 2024, the number of deaths related to an accidental overdose was 504, while the number last year during the same period reached 631.

“We’ve also learned that people want treatment and want help, and what we’ve learned from our evening programs is that people come into care and stabilize,” said Dr. Hillary Kunins, the health department’s director of behavioral and mental health services. SF.

But the reality is that there are often empty beds, which means people don’t always show up for residential detox or treatment programs. It shows that it is difficult to take the first step for treatment, ask someone on the street.

We had a candid conversation with Abby Moe who shared that she is happy that the price of fentanyl has gone up significantly in recent months. In this way, she has been able to cut back.

“I like a five-dollar-a-habit day. That’s why I like it. It’s easier on your body, because you have to do so much,” Moe said.

MORE: DEA Focuses on Fentanyl as Data Shows Drug Overdoses Now #1 Killer of Americans 18-45

At the moment, she is not ready to seek treatment.

Lyanne Melendez: “How many more are in need of it? I mean, do you have a number of people addicted to Fentanyl on our streets?”

Kunin’s: “So we don’t have an exact number.”

Melendez: “Ballpark.”

Kunin’s: — We think there are probably several thousand.

MORE: The SF Night Navigation Team reaches out to drug users in at-risk areas

Through signs, the health department is also now counting on others who have been in the trenches to say recovery is possible.

Shavonne Allen was once addicted to heroin and never had a mentor to help her through her recovery.

She now wants to be that person.

“Anyone who struggles with addiction, you tend to isolate yourself, you have shame and you don’t really want to let people know what’s going on. Eventually you can’t hide it anymore,” Allen said.

“It’s a crisis that for those who have worked in this field as I have for more than 20 years, the scale and gravity that fentanyl has brought to our city and the country has really challenged us to do more and to do better and to think about how we do things, and I think that’s what keeps us going is keeping the hope and the possibility that this can be different and will be different,” Kunins said.