The post The opioid crisis has a ‘hidden’ brain injury epidemic first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post The opioid crisis has a ‘hidden’ brain injury epidemic appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post These tiny shards of glass are a sign of shifting drug use in Ottawa first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post These tiny shards of glass are a sign of shifting drug use in Ottawa appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post Wendy Muckle, Ottawa Inner City Health co-founder, appointed to Order of Canada first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post Wendy Muckle, Ottawa Inner City Health co-founder, appointed to Order of Canada appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The Life Process Program is a groundbreaking, non-disease-based model designed to address substance use and substance use disorder. Originally offered directly to individuals seeking support, LPP has now evolved to include a Coach Training Program. This initiative empowers peers to become recovery coaches, equipping them to support individuals in their own communities. By fostering local, peer-led solutions, we’re creating new pathways to reach marginalized populations in ways that truly meet them where they are.

Last week, we had the pleasure of welcoming Zach Rhoads and Daithi Conlon from LPP to Ottawa. During their visit, Case Manager Tabitha Morris led them on a tour of the city, showcasing the diverse programs and services Ottawa offers to support harm reduction and recovery. The visit culminated in a proud moment as Zach presented Certificates of Completion to our first cohort of trainees in the Coach Training Program.

“We are honored to collaborate with Ottawa Inner City Health,” shared Zach Rhoads, LPP Coach. “Their dedication and innovative harm reduction services are truly inspiring. Partnering with peers who empower their communities allows us to add future-focused, solution-driven support to enhance substance use health. It’s exciting to see the impact unfolding.”

Now that the training is complete, our newly certified peer coaches are diving into their roles. They have begun enrolling clients into the program and are facilitating both one-on-one sessions and group meetings informed by LPP principles.

This marks the start of an exciting new chapter—one where peer-led recovery becomes a transformative force in our community. Congratulations again to our graduates; your work is paving the way for a brighter, more inclusive future!

The post Harm Reduction Training – Celebrating Our Graduates! first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post Harm Reduction Training – Celebrating Our Graduates! appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post OICH Response to Changes in SIS Legislation first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post OICH Response to Changes in SIS Legislation appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

In Ottawa, the people who use drugs who were engaged in the efforts to protect the health of their community and to advocate for the services they and their community desperately needed to survive the toxic drug crisis are mostly dead now. Those that are not, are overwhelmed with survivor’s guilt, demoralized that not only were their efforts not enough to save their friends but that the services they advocated for are being blamed for causing the problems they set out mitigate.

In the public discourse about community safety, the voice of people who use drugs has been absent. This is striking given that people who use drugs a) are part of the community and b) are far more likely to be victimized than any other stakeholder in the conversation and c) necessary for any sustainable solution to public safety issues.

We worked with people who use drugs to develop and implement a survey around the safety needs of people who use drugs. 

https://lnkd.in/eS3qgiDj

Next we held focus groups to ask them what specific things in their current environment are causing them to feel unsafe and how we can address them together.

When we talked to people who use drug about the impact of the toxic drug supply, they told us about the dope sickness, they told us about desperation, the fear and the “every person for themselves” attitude that was created. They did not like what had become of their community. They grieved the way things used to be before the drug supply became so toxic, before the pandemic. And they grieved the leaders they loved and respected who have been lost over the past 7 years.

So we asked them what they wanted to do about it.

What they told us was that they wanted to restore the positive aspects of street culture. That they wanted to be part of the solution to the concerns of neighbours and businesses. They told us that they wanted us to help them to address the things that were impacting their sense of safety.

The Ontario Government’s decision to close supervise consumption sites in Ontario was rationalized by concerns about vulnerable children being exposed to drug use and discarded syringes. People who use drugs, many of whom grew up as vulnerable children who the system failed to protect, couldn’t agree more! In fact, the first thing, they wanted to address was addressing drug use in front of kids, and within a week or two they restored the community norm of people shouting “kids up” whenever they saw a family with kids on the block and everyone putting their drugs away until after the family passed by and the kids were out of sight.

There are policy alternatives to prohibitionist closures of consumption sites that would restore balance to communities and make safer downtowns for all.

The post Community Safety – For People Who Use Drugs first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post Community Safety – For People Who Use Drugs appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post The exemption that allows a Lowertown supervised drug consumption site to keep operating first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post The exemption that allows a Lowertown supervised drug consumption site to keep operating appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

Like many of you, I read about the deadly assaults that took place out of Kingston’s Integrated Care Hub with horror and dread.

I feel horror about the terrible, violent loss of life and the impact that these deaths will have on the community of people living in the encampment, on the loved ones of those who have passed in such a horrible way, on those who responded to the emergency who are people who hold a deep passion and empathy for the people they serve.

And I feel dread about the potential policy response to this terrible incident.
The hull has been breached, the ship is going down and people have fallen overboard.   Our leaky lifeboats are at risk of being swamped by the desperate needs of those in the water. Those that can swim are doing what they can, those that cling to bits of wreckage are making as much space as possible for others. While it is hard for bystanders to hear the screams for help, those screams will not stop because the people in the water are survivors, clinging to whatever hope they can for rescue.

So, what should be our response? We have deployed a few leaky lifeboats like supervised consumption services and prescribed alternatives to the toxic drug supply, and we support those who manage to find refuge in the flotsam and jetsam of tents and encampments and other public spaces, building community under the direst of circumstances.  They do this because they understand that their chances of survival are better if they stick together.

I am filled with dread because there is an ill-informed public debate about how to “save” people from this disaster. Some offer the unhelpful observation that it would be better if everyone could swim (i.e. go into “treatment”), others suggest our time would be better spend designing better lifeboats or new shipping routes, some suggest that we solve the problem of our existing leaky boats by scuttling them–closing consumption sites, disbanding encampments, prohibiting prescribed alternatives with their wraparound supports.

In sea rescues, crews are taught to put all their efforts into pulling as many people out of the water as possible—and then the sea will take the rest. We know these are not perfect solutions but these are resources we have been given, despite calls for more.  We must deploy them to save as many people as possible.

We cannot rescue everyone but we can, and should, be rescuing as many people as possible because time is running out for far too many.

The post Responding to Crisis first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post Responding to Crisis appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

Adamie P went with RTR staff to see a Pink Floyd tribute band!
Stu S is moving into housing at Carruthers after a very long wait downtown!
9 clients from Merivale went to the beach this past month and had a blast.

The post Client Shoutout  first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post Client Shoutout  appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

Jessie has worked in several of our programs and has consistently shown such love and care to our clients. She goes the extra mile all the time-playing music to make showers and room cleaning more fun, having the unit so well run and organized that it makes the nurse coordinator’s job so much easier, and being such a good team member for our partner organizations. Jessie really exemplifies the importance of what our CCWs do-being the heart that helps us connect and care for our clients in a deep and meaningful way.

The post Staff Shoutout – Jessie CCW first appeared on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..

The post Staff Shoutout – Jessie CCW appeared first on Ottawa Inner City Health Inc..