$1.2M for harm reduction support
Recovering addicts will help those who have survived an overdose
A new program that will hire people in recovery from drug addiction to support those who’ve survived an overdose is getting started in Peterborough with $1.2 million in federal government funding.
The money is going to the Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough to oversee the work for the next four years.
“This program is going to change a lot of lives,” said Chelsey McGowan of the Elizabeth Fry Society during a video conference on Tuesday.
The idea is to create connections between people, she said.
“Because we believe that the opposite of addiction is connection — and not just connection, but meaningful connection.”
McGowan will co-ordinate the program, which is called A Different Approach.
She’s in recovery from drug addiction herself and said no such program existed when she was using drugs.
It would have helped her, she said, because a
person who has experienced addiction can understand like few others can.
“We just want to give back what wasn’t there for us,” McGowan said.
The idea will be to support people right after they’ve survived a drug overdose, while they’re still in hospital or as they are discharged.
The program will employ six trained workers with the capacity to help roughly 500 people referred to them annually.
Those who’ve survived a drug overdose are already being referred to the program by Peterborough Regional Health Centre. Services will be available 24 hours daily and by July there will be a space in the hospital for where peer support can be carried out (although support can also happen in other community settings too, such as coffee shops).
People will be helped either to use drugs more safely or to stop using entirely, said Elizabeth Fry Society executive director Debbie Carriere (who’s also in recovery) during the video conference. The funding will come from the federal government’s substance use and addictions program.
It was announced by Women and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef. The Peterborough-Kawartha MP appeared at the video conference from her home in Peterborough.
“We’re all here because our community is hurting,” Monsef said.
There have been 17 deaths in Peterborough so far this year suspected to have been drugrelated, according to city police, plus one death confirmed to have been by overdose.
Local agencies in the city are working on “innovative, science-based methods to save lives,” Monsef said.
“This work isn’t easy,” she said to front-line workers during the video conference. “But you’re able to make a difference with the funding that you are provided.”
Samantha Clement, who will act as the peer-support training supervisor, has lived through addiction herself.
Peer support will decrease the likelihood of repeated overdose for those being supported, she said, while offering a job to people in recovery who might be stigmatized and having trouble finding employment.
Selwyn Township Mayor Andy Mitchell, who chairs the board of health, participated in the video conference and called the new program “a positive and welcome step.”
“It will save lives,” he said. Mayor Diane Therrien said opioid use “has been at a crisis point for far too long” in Peterborough.
“We have to make sure it’s top priority, and isn’t overshadowed by other issues,” she said.
Alex Bierk, a local artist in recovery from drug addiction, was at the video conference and questioned how the program will help people as they struggle not only with drug addiction, but with other issues such as homelessness.
Peterborough has a dire lack of affordable housing, he said, and people with addictions may need a safe place to live that’s simply not to be found.
The program can be “moulded and changed” as needed, McGowan said, and peer support workers can help with all kinds of issues — including the search for housing.
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough’s website is at efryptbo.org