Together they decided to make the project a reality and invited a variety of folks to model and/or volunteer for the initial calendar that was photographed in a warehouse in southwest Berkeley in the spring of 2004. Like harm reduction itself, the HOHR project was inclusive from the very beginning; the project included volunteers, board members, researchers and outreach workers of every race, sexual orientation, gender expression, ability and body type.
This inclusivity encompassed the models and volunteers but also the spirit of the calendar which included major holidays from all the world’s major religions as well LGBTQ+, international and harm reduction and public health holidays. The calendar also took a very catholic approach to drug use- including information about all varieties of drugs when much of harm reduction was exclusively focused on injection drug use.
Indeed, being a sexy medium of harm reduction information was always one of the fundamental goals of the Hotties and hours were spent ensuring that all of the information the calendars contained was fully vetted by drug users and scientists-representing the best in harm reduction practice.
Kasper took the photos and Catherine did most of the writing, organizing and model and volunteer engagement. In later years she was able to transfer much of the latter to Arielle McKee, an otherwise unconnected member of the public who heard of the project on social media and brought her vast organizational talents as a professional executive assistant to bear for the good of the project.