We are the people we've been waiting for
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Transcript of We are the people we've been waiting for
We are the people we've been waiting for
Community Organizing around Harm Reduction in Rural Ontario
Sean Lee Popham
Workshop OverviewIntroduce North Hastings and the Harm Reduction
work that we have been involved with there
Share lessons learned/challenges
Benefits of Rural Harm Reduction Organizing
Start conversation around Rural issues and Harm Reduction
Community organizing
Power is often invisible. Create visible power. Make private conversations public.
Why HR/Substance Use
Addiction have been used to control populations for a long time.
– Alcohol and Colonialism
– CIA and crack cocaine into black communities in the 70's
Substance use as a way to alter one's consciousness We live in a culture of addiction
Harm Reduction work in North Hastings
Starting in 2009 we built from a meeting of 3 nurses to an organization of 13 different stakeholder organizations
Town was “dry” until the 1970's Religious social environment and frontier town Visible drug culture
North Hastings Harm Reduction Network
Established in January 2009
First project surveys of people using drugs in the area
Developed questionnaire and process in spring 2009
June-December 2009 conducted 10 surveys
NHHRN
Presence created work
Drug stores changed hand, risk of losing NE site (Aug/2009)
Establishing new NE site when new mental health drop-in opened (Feb/2010)
Attempts to create user-led groups
April to November 2010
Identified in research as an interest
Drug use groups, help us with research, Hep C
Learned alot about barriers and issues
Lessons from attempts at engaging drug users
Lack of space for low-income people to gather
Barriers to confidentiality
Our own fear about publicly discussing issue
Increasing Support
Fall 2010- cluster of 5 suicides of men 18-55 with some connection to drug use
Sense of possibility of “backlash” against people using drugs in community
December 2010 meeting with wider stakeholders
Substance Use Strategy Network
Winter 2011
-Created mission statement and statement of beliefs
-Organizations endorsed statement of beliefs
-Internal education
Principles
Substance use, including caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and other substances, is part of the range of human experience and has been since the beginning of human existence
Problematic substance use, which interferes with the ability to enjoy life or function to one’s full potential, or which creates significant health problems, must be addressed comprehensively and with compassion, using evidence based public health interventions and services that are client-led
Problematic substance use can arise from unacknowledged or un-addressed physical and mental health issues or other life stressors; substance use may be a means of coping with those issues
Moralizing and punitive responses to substance use are unhelpful and tend to further stigmatize and demoralize individuals who use substances
Harm reduction approaches provide the opportunity to respond in a way that reduces some of the risks of substance use while engaging with substance using individuals with dignity and respect
Effective approaches to problematic substance use encompass a full spectrum of strategies from prevention to harm reduction to abstinence
No one should be denied services merely because they are using substances
Objectives
To reduce individual and community harms related to substance use through education and advocacy
To work to reduce the stigmatization of people who use substances
To actively engage people who use substances in our work and in creating peer driven services
To particularly address the needs of people less well-served by traditional services, including women and youth
To develop and advocate for the implementation of needed services, including a range of flexible addictions, health, mental health, crisis, prevention and harm reduction services in North Hastings
To work together with other individuals and organizations who share similar objectives and approaches
Substance Use Strategy Network
Celebrate Youth Movement
The Switchyard
Bancroft Medical Clinic
Hastings Prince Edward County Health Unit
North Hastings-Quinte Healthcare Corporation
Mental Health Services
North Hastings Family Health Team
Maggie’s Resource Centre for Women
North Hastings High School Parent Council
Ontario Works, Hastings County
Bancroft Family Health Team
Assertive Community Treatment Team
Bancroft Family Health Team Community Advisory Committee
Member Organizations
Below the Radar Conference
June 2011
70 plus participants
Half day of education on issues in the community, Methadone maintenance and stigma around drug use
Half day of discussion's around what was needed in the community
Needs Identified at conference
A locally based methadone clinic
Increasing the support and engagement of young people
Challenging institutional stigma within agencies
Supporting families living with substance use
Further education
Letters to the editor
April 2012 “everyone a first responder”
-1/2 day education event aimed at making everyone in town able to respond to substance use crisis
Methadone Clinic
Spring 2012 OATC clinic opens in town
Concerned letters to editor
By-Law banning new clinics
SUSN hosts education forum
Letters to both OATC and Town Council
Lessons learned
Start a group
We repeatedly prepared ourselves for backlashes that never materialized
Harm Reduction makes sense– “if my son was using needles I'd want
someone to give him a clean one”• Pharmacy Tech at NEP
The length of time it takes to create connections with people who are using substances
Challenges
Distance and travel
Lack of anonymity/knowledge of personal history
Lack of space for low income people
Benefits of Rural Harm Reduction Organizing
Much less red tape bureaucracy
People have decreased reliance on the state
A pragmatic view of life
Ability to work with different agencies
Below the radar…….
Questions?