We are Street Health, a community-based organization that provides services to improve the health and well-being of homeless and under-housed people in Downtown Toronto. In June 2018, we opened an Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) in response to increased levels of overdoses in the Dundas and Sherbourne region.
In March 2019, the Provincial Government abruptly eliminated OPS
funding, even as overdose deaths in the city continued to rise. The
need has not stopped. We urgently need your support to
continue operation. Your donation will help us reduce
the number of fatal drug overdoses in the community and connect
those struggling with vital health and social services.
According to the Canadian Association For Safe
Supply, Ontario is losing 55 people per week to an overdose
(August 8th, 2020). Everyone is somebody to someone.
Your donation makes a big difference:
$100: Gives two clients access to this life-saving service
$50: Helps Street Health maintain a safe and hygienic environment
$20: Provides a tank of life-giving oxygen.
Administering oxygen to someone who has overdosed is a
life-saving, community-based treatment compared to intervention by
EMS and transferring the person to a hospital.
$5: Supplies 5 fentanyl test strips (This allows
clients to determine whether the drugs they have purchased may put
them at an elevated risk of overdose) or supplies a portable
hand sanitizer and reusable mask for clients who lacks access to a
safe, social distancing space.
Overdose Prevention Site's reduce the number of fatal drug overdoses in a community. In 2019/20, Street Health's OPS supported over 3,000 client visits and reversed over 50 overdoses. This site is a resource for the community with over 600 referrals to other healthcare services being made annually.
To read the stories behind the statistics, please visit: https://www.twentytwentyarts.com/weathered
Help us keep the Overdose Prevention Site open. Every life is worth saving.
Highlights
See all activity71InstagramLive Series
In addition to raising funds for our OPS, we hope to educate audiences on the real-life impact that the overdose crisis is having on healthcare workers, families, and friends.
INSTAGRAM LIVE SERIES SCHEDULE
August 31st, 2020 + @twentytwentyarts
10:00AM
NICK BOYCE
(Ontario Harm Reduction Network)
"Toronto's Overdose Crisis: A Way Forward"
Nick Boyce has 20 years of experience working in harm reduction and currently works for the Ontario Harm Reduction Network (OHRN), supports harm reduction efforts in Ontario by providing training, networking opportunities and consultations to service providers and agencies.
2:30PM
THERESE MILLER (Mother of Izzy Langley)
"On Losing a Child to an Overdose"
Therese Miller is the mother of Izzy Langley,
who died from an overdose on October 27th, 2018: "Our
Izzy left a great void in the lives of those who
loved her
and she will be forever missed!"
5:00PM
KELLY WHITE (Street Health OPS
Coordinator)
"On the Front Lines of Toronto's Overdose Crisis"
Kelly White is the OPS Coordinator at Street
Health's OPS, located in the Moss Park neighbourhood at the
crossroads of Sherbourne Street and Dundas Street
East. Every day she hopes to bring drug users off the
streets and into safer spaces, where they can use under the
supervision of both medical professionals, and support workers
like herself who have been trained on the job.
