By: Staff Writer
Community advocate, artist, and publisher of LGBTQ San Diego County News, Eddie Reynoso is transforming a life-altering experience into a space for healing, forgiveness, and connection through his latest interactive art installation: In Case You’re Still Listening: The Unsent Messages Project. The installation launched outside of The Candy Pushers before moving to the corner of Richmond and University Avenue, just outside of Gossip Grill.
The installation centers around a life sized phone booth, where visitors are invited to step inside and leave voicemails — messages for their inner child, someone they miss, someone they never got to forgive, someone they never expressed their love to. It’s a space to say the things that were too heavy, too late, or too difficult to speak aloud — until now. Voicemails can be left anonymously or not. Anonymous voicemails will be transcribed and narrated by LGBTQ San Diego County News’ A.I. narrator- “Eddie R-ai” (pronounced Eddie Rey). Messages will then be shared on social media as part of the greater healing project.
Reynoso, one of several people who were injured in a suspected hate-driven gel pellet shooting in May 2024, was left with C-PTSD, disassociation, and ongoing vision issues. The experience disrupted his life, but also opened a path toward deep inner healing work. This booth, he says, is part of that journey.
“This is where I unbuild the silence,” Reynoso shares. “Where I say what I never got to say. And where others can, too.”
In addition to providing a space for reflection and expression, the booth helps raise awareness for mental health and the long-lasting impacts of trauma and violence. Reynoso is also using the project to raise funds for his recovery and to increase the reward in his case from $2,000 to $10,000 — not in pursuit of punishment, but in the spirit of grace.
“I believe people can make terrible mistakes,” he says. “And offering forgiveness is how I begin to set myself free.”
Reynoso shares that his art therapy project is deeply rooted in the act of offering grace — even to strangers. “I built this booth as a way to detach the web silks that bind me to the suspects in my case,” Reynoso explains. “When I get to a place that I can offer them forgiveness, it won’t be to excuse what happened — it’ll be because I have chosen to stop carrying it. This healing booth is how I begin to let go.”
Reynoso’s GoFundMe goal has also been increased to $50,000 from the current goal of $35,000. Reynoso says that the ongoing treatment he needs has extended his expected return to publishing date through at least October of 2025. The additional request for support covers an additional six months of alternative mental health therapies, as well as housing, living, and transportation expenses. Supporters can contribute to his GoFundMe campaign here: 👉 gofundme.com/f/eddies-ptsd-fight-is-our-fight .
The booth is set to appear guerrilla-style throughout San Diego — sometimes randomly popping up at street parties, sometimes quietly tucked into overlooked corners of the city. To find out where it will appear next, or to bring it to your business, organization, or community space, contact the project on Instagram at @TheUnsentMessagesProject or visit Eddie Reynoso’s Facebook page for updates.
Through In Case You’re Still Listening, Eddie Reynoso invites the community into a collective act of courage — to speak the unspeakable, to grieve, to remember, to love, to wish happiness, and to heal.
