Last year 699 people died from overdoses in San Francisco, and thousands more almost died. This tragedy is as visible as it is shameful. It should be easy to get treatment and harder to get drugs in our city, but that isn't the case for thousands suffering from addiction.

On Thursday, I held a hearing on the findings of the Recovery Summit Working Group. If you do one thing this weekend, I urge you to listen to their stories.

These are the people who have found recovery in spite of the deadly disease of addiction, often with very little support. We owe it to our city to learn from their lived experience:

Richard Beale: I don't want to see another person die, like my brothers died, because they couldn't get into a program...We talk about meeting people where they are, but guess what we do a disservice when we just leave them there.

Geoffrea Morris: I truly believe if my father was trying to get clean today, he could not because the treatment he used no longer exists...Today he has been clean and sober for 16 years.

Cedric Akbar, who has decades of experience with substance abuse, talks about how lack of treatment is hurting families

@MyTwolffamily My addiction was so powerful that I chose heroin and fentanyl over my wife and my two kids. The bottom line is that my treatment program ended my homelessness. Today that program has more than 50 empty beds.

Victoria Westbrook: I remember sitting on my bunk, while in prison, and thinking, my life was bigger in prison than it ever was on the streets. My life had gotten so small from my addiction. We can recover if given the opportunity, held accountable, and shown a new way to live.

These are just some of the real stories that were shared yesterday. Please watch the hearing, share their stories, and listen to their recommendations. https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=178&clip_id=37781