Today we’d like to introduce you to Meesh Mori.
Hi Meesh, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hi everyone! My name is Meesh. Here is a little about my origin story.
I grew up in LA and quickly left after high school for Chico, CA to attend Chico State. I wanted to find myself and who I was. I ended up falling in love with doing community service and finding creative ways to help through non-profit work. I was someone that took every internship I could because I truly had a passion for giving back and I was good at it. I ended up staying in Chico for 8 years doing public health work at various non-profits.
In 2018, I was a survivor of the Camp Fire up in Paradise. I lost my house and everything I owned. It was time for a change and to rebuild. I decided on a whim to come to Oceanside. The first few years I spent a lot of time reflecting and building up my confidence for the next steps. After 30 years, I decided to come out publicly and most importantly to my family. I ended up taking an entry level job at SAY San Diego leading the Collective Coalition an LGBTQ+ harm reduction group. Within four years I helped bring in new grants, promoted to supervisor, and brought in new staff to expand the efforts. Now our programing includes monthly sober events and annual Sober Pride, a podcast, workshops, intersectional resources, and more!
In 2024, inspired to keep going, I took a part time job with A New PATH. At first I was only working in Oceanside giving out harm reduction supplies to the unhoused community at Humanity Showers. What an amazing space! Next I got promoted to their Outreach Director for their art program at the Brown Building. Along with one of my colleagues, we created a weekly art event for folks to come connect and build community.
In early 2025, I got asked to be on the board of Rainbow Spaces, a inclusive LGBTQ+ youth organization serving the Southbay of San Diego. I have had the honor to help in a whole new capacity. I am excited for what is to come with this!
I live in central San Diego now with my cat, Otter, and my partner and their dog, Dream.
I love traveling, being creative, thrifting, and exploring new neighborhoods. I hope to start a community center someday or anything that helps people find resources and community.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I did not have the most supportive parents. They tried their best, but they were the boomer generation that did not believe in showing emotion and I am a rather emotional individual. My father is an immigrant of Peru that was someone that was not proud of it and wanted to assimilate. My mother is a Mexican-American who also was not super proud of showing her heritage. I grew up with a little imposer syndrome not always sure where I fit in. I grew up very catholic and not the kind accepting of a queer identify. I did not come out to my family until I was 30 because it was not something I learned to deal with until after the fire in 2018.
I also learned I was neurodivergent during the pandemic and got diagnosed. Learning to unmask and not burn out was a huge thing I had to overcome. I also incorporate sensory things into my work, which has been liberating.
I grew up feeling like such an outsider. Being too emotional, being gay but not sure how to navigate, being nonbinary but not understanding what it meant, and not being Latine enough. But now I feel confident in my abilities and how I show up in this world.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the Program Supervisor of the Collective Coalition, which is a part of the non profit SAY San Diego. It is a harm reduction program that is led and for the queer and trans community. We do Sober Pride every year, silent discos, a Queer Health and Abundance Zine Fest, Sapphic Sober Spaces, QT Health Collaborative workshops, educational presentation and content, a podcast, a robust social media page, quit nic workshops, build community care, and local policy advocacy! I am very proud of what I have built in the last 4 years. When I started, I was the only staff on this project, and we only had one grant and limited funding. I expanded funding and our reach. I truly believe in collaboration, especially supporting community already doing the work. Community care is so important.
I also work with a New PATH as an overdose prevention specialist and the Outreach Director for the weekly art program at the Brown Building. We intertwine art and harm reduction to build community. They also provide needed recovery resources and drug policy reform. We must break the stigma around substance use!
Lastly, I am a board member for Rainbow Spaces! I am so honored to help serve the LGBTQ+ youth in south and east county, a very underserved area.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
This is a tough one. This political climate has shifted, and public health is being slashed. On top of this, harm reduction is going back in time. During the last administration it was finally added as a pilar of SAMHSA and legitimized. Now it is going backward in people stigmatizing harm reduction. But let’s be clear, harm reduction saves lives!
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