About Us

Below Sea Level Aid is a community-driven harm reduction organization dedicated to supporting our unhoused neighbors in New Orleans, Louisiana. At Below Sea Level Aid, we are committed to meeting individuals where they are and providing support in ways that best align with their needs. We prioritize empowering marginalized communities, ensuring they lead the conversation and advocate for themselves. We deeply value the relationships we build with the communities we serve, striving to restore their power and autonomy.

How We Help

  • Direct Services

    We provide a comprehensive array of harm reduction supplies, including emergency contraception, safer drug use supplies, hygiene products, and more. In addition, we offer case management services to facilitate emergency shelter linkage, crisis intervention, food insecurity support, and access to other vital social services.

  • Policy Reform

    Stigmatizing policies create significant barriers for individuals seeking essential services. We concentrate on addressing local and national policies related to encampment sweeps, the criminalization of homelessness and drug use supplies, and improving access to harm reduction services in rural communities.

  • Education

    We offer Overdose Reversal Training and Street-Based Outreach 101 to community members and organizations. These trainings, conducted by our experienced staff, are available both in-person and via Zoom.

Our Team

  • Jack Waguespack

    Executive Director

    Jack is a dedicated professional with a deep-rooted appreciation for their Southern upbringing. Their commitment to harm reduction began while working as a researcher for the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance PWID cycle. Jack then assumed leadership of the largest needle exchange program on the Gulf Coast. Jack's multifaceted background in harm reduction, legal services, and community advocacy underscores their commitment to effecting positive change and improving the lives of those they serve, which led them to founding Below Sea Level Aid.

  • Lauren Hall, Esq.

    Policy Director

    Since moving to New Orleans in 2015 from Southern California, Lauren has graduated from Loyola University with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and a Juris Doctorate. She has experience working with law firms and social justice nonprofits throughout the city. Her lifelong career aspirations are to protect disadvantaged communities from poverty disparities, cultural eradication, and incarceration.

  • Jack Smith

    Grant Writer

    Originally from Connecticut, is a dedicated advocate for the empowerment of marginalized communities. A recent graduate of Boston College, Jack's foundation in rhetoric, business, and the promotion of community underscores his commitment to creating positive change. Bringing this wealth of experience and fervor to his role as a grant writer, Jack is driven by the conviction that collective action is paramount in addressing societal inequities.

  • Eden Artigues, MFT

    Board Member

    Eden Artigues is a sex and relationships therapist who works with individuals, relationships, and families across the South. They provide pleasure-positive and anti-oppressive services that help people cultivate sexual and relational health practices that affirm their lived experiences. 

  • Jenn Vigue, LCSW-BACS

    Board Member

    Jenn is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Board Approved Clinical Supervisor with a decade of experience working in the New Orleans community. Beyond their clinical practice, Jenn serves as the co-founder and co-director of the nonprofit, Wellness Project New Orleans. This worker-led initiative is committed to enhancing accessibility to mental health and wellness services within the community while providing support to wellness practitioners.

  • Joan Jungbin Lee

    Board Member

    Joan Jungbin Lee (she/they) is a nonprofit professional who specializes in operations and fundraising/development. She is originally from NYC & has lived in New Orleans for almost 6 years. She currently works as a Central Services & Operations Manager at Acceleraise, a consulting firm that supports Black and Brown nonprofit and education leaders. She believes that creativity and rooted community are the only ways to collective freedom.

  • Jess Wiley

    Board Member

    Jess is originally from Cincinnati but has grown strong roots in New Orleans. With having lived experience of being unhoused and substance abuse, Jess is able to provide meaningful insight to better structure harm reduction programming. She is one of the founding members, of Gnardawgs, a street outreach based harm reduction program that serves the New Orleans area.