Funding for Sudbury Temporary Overdose Prevention
Donation protected
Sudbury, Ontario is the epi-centre of Ontario's opioid emergency. We have seen overdose deaths double from 2019 to 2020. We have the highest death rate by overdose per capita in the province. Our town has lost 4xs as many friends and loved ones from opioid overdose than we have lost to COVID in the past year.
For going on 2 years, a small group of health care providers and activists formed STOPS: Sudbury Temporary Overdose Prevention Society. We are a frontline, grassroots, peer-led initiative. We operate an entirely volunteer, unsanctioned but supervised consumption site. We use a harm-reduction model which is low-barrier to help our fellow community members stay alive, and feel cared for.
As you will note the word "Temporary" is in our group's name because we felt we had to step in to do what we could to try to stem the epidemic in our community. We remain committed to running a service until a permanent supervised consumption site is up and running, but its nearly 2 years later, and due to a tragic combination of red tape, stigma, and the prioritization of other crises, a sanctioned site for Sudbury has still not been confirmed.
Essential, life-saving health care should not be funded by crowd-sourcing, but here we are: we rely on donations for our site supplies and other costs like trailer repairs.
If an application for a funded supervised consumption site was submitted to the province tomorrow, it would still take 4-6 months in order for the funding to be approved. So, in the meantime, we are reaching out to the broader community for your assistance and support in order that we can keep running.
May 31st is a big day for us as it marks the 2 year "anniversary" since our first pop-up clinic, since the formation of STOPS. Please help us reach our financial goal by this date: it would mean a lot!
For going on 2 years, a small group of health care providers and activists formed STOPS: Sudbury Temporary Overdose Prevention Society. We are a frontline, grassroots, peer-led initiative. We operate an entirely volunteer, unsanctioned but supervised consumption site. We use a harm-reduction model which is low-barrier to help our fellow community members stay alive, and feel cared for.
As you will note the word "Temporary" is in our group's name because we felt we had to step in to do what we could to try to stem the epidemic in our community. We remain committed to running a service until a permanent supervised consumption site is up and running, but its nearly 2 years later, and due to a tragic combination of red tape, stigma, and the prioritization of other crises, a sanctioned site for Sudbury has still not been confirmed.
Essential, life-saving health care should not be funded by crowd-sourcing, but here we are: we rely on donations for our site supplies and other costs like trailer repairs.
If an application for a funded supervised consumption site was submitted to the province tomorrow, it would still take 4-6 months in order for the funding to be approved. So, in the meantime, we are reaching out to the broader community for your assistance and support in order that we can keep running.
May 31st is a big day for us as it marks the 2 year "anniversary" since our first pop-up clinic, since the formation of STOPS. Please help us reach our financial goal by this date: it would mean a lot!
Organizer and beneficiary
Beth Mairs
Organizer
Worthington, ON
Karla Ghartey
Beneficiary