Outreach workers support those grieving overdose deaths in Sudbury
International Overdose Awareness Day has been recognized officially for over two decades and while the day is marked every Aug. 31.
Outreach workers in Greater Sudbury recognized International Overdose Awareness Day a day early holding space for those grieving in the city’s downtown core on August 30, 2024. (Lyndsay Aelick/CTV News Northern Ontario)Outreach workers in Greater Sudbury recognized the day early holding space for those grieving in the city’s downtown core on Friday.
“This is an opportunity for a community to come together to honor folks that we've lost to an ongoing, unprecedented crisis of toxic, unregulated drugs,” said Réseau Access Network’s outreach manager Amber Fritz.
“This is a, hope to create a safe space where people can grieve, where people can access services, have access to staff. We have drumming, we'll have smudging. and just to really elevate the voices of people that are most impacted.”
Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas attended the event and told CTV News that the day hits home on a personal level.
“I had my nephew, who died in November of 2023 and two days ago, Mike, a man that I’ve known for a very long time, died of, toxic drug supply – I mean, I saw him last week, I talked to him, he was in a good mood, he was healthy and he's gone,” she said.
Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas talks with CTV News at an overdose awareness event hosted by Réseau Access Network in Memorial Park in Greater Sudbury, Ont., on August 30, 2024. (Lyndsay Aelick/CTV News Northern Ontario)
Gélinas said she plans to fight for the safe consumption site that was closed by the province back in March.
“The body of evidence is very strong. It comes from Ontario. It comes from Canada that shows that, supervised consumption site is an important step in your recovery, so that you can, be free of addiction,” she said.
“You can heal from, from what ails you. So, the decisions that were made by Mr. Ford are not based on evidence, they are not based on best health practice. They are based on stigma.”
The interior of Greater Sudbury's former supervised drug consumption site on Energy Court in the city's downtown. June 3, 2022 (File photo/Alana Everson/CTV News Northern Ontario)
With over a decade working in the outreach field, Fritz told CTV News that she feels overdoses became a real crisis in 2018 when Purple Heroin was first discovered in the city and says the pandemic only exacerbated the situation.
Amber Fritz is the outreach manager for the Réseau Access Network in Greater Sudbury, Ont. She is pictured here speaking with CTV News at an overdose awareness event in advance of International Overdose Awareness Day 2024 on August 30, 2024. (Lyndsay Aelick/CTV News Northern Ontario)
“Overdose or drug poisoning can absolutely affect anyone,” she said.
“We have an extremely volatile, poisoned, toxic, unregulated supply. A naloxone kit and knowing how to use it is one of the best defenses. It's an incredibly safe medication.”
Teens and young adults in Ontario are dying at higher rates from opioids, but accessing treatments less, a new report shows. A Naloxone anti-overdose kit is held in this photo on February 10, 2017. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
Fritz said you can get naloxone kits free from the Réseau Access Network, from Public Health Sudbury & District and from at most pharmacies.
A list of overdose symptoms and steps to take to prevent overdoses can be found here.
Tomorrow on the official day of Overdose Awareness community members are being encouraged to join a march that will take place at Bell Park heading downtown beginning at noon.
March organizers are encouraging everyone to wear purple and bring pictures of the loved ones they have lost due to overdose.
Public Health Sudbury & District has also told CTV News that the Big Nickel has been lit up purple this week to mark International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31 and to commemorate those who have lost their lives and the loved ones they left behind.
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