Sudbury outreach worker assaulted while trying to help marginalized population

An outreach worker in Sudbury is warning others after she was assaulted by a group of individuals she was trying to help.

“I didn’t expect anything like this,” said Carrie Ann Wasylyk.

The incident took place last Friday when Wasylyk was providing coffee as part of outreach with Tomorrow’s Hope.

She said she was assaulted downtown.

Wasylyk had just provided Naloxone to someone overdosing when another person in the crowd suspected she was using her cellphone to take pictures.

“Also, on top of that there was another six to eight of them that attacked me on top,” she said.

“I ended up with a level five concussion.”

Carrie Ann Wasylyk, an outreach worker in Sudbury, is warning others after she was assaulted by a group of individuals she was trying to help. (Photo from video)

A friend who was standing outside his car nearby saw what was happening and stopped the assault.

“I was outside the car,” said Kees Sceinhart.

“I would never let her go by herself. I watched from a distance. Maybe I saved her life, because when six people jump on you … anything could happen.”

Wasylyk said she is healing from her injuries but she is still shaken. She has decided to step away from outreach for now.

“I’m scared. There’s not enough people (providing outreach) out there. And they’re closing down a lot of shelters, they’re closing down lots and it’s not helping the city — and I paid for it,” Wasylyk said.

After the assault, she crawled to the police station nearby where investigators took pictures of her injuries and she filed a police report.

The incident happened on Medina Lane downtown, not far from the Reseau Access Network site.

Always concerning

“It’s always concerning when we hear that somebody has been injured in the community that is trying to provide service,” said executive director Heidi Eisenhauer.

“But it’s really important to recognize that there are trained people in the community providing service. We look at the gaps, we look at who is providing service."

Eisenhauer said they work to develop relationships with clients that help keep them safe.

“We treat people with respect, people treat us with respect,” she said. “There’s that bond that’s created over time.”

Both Reseau Access Network and L’Association des Jeunes de la rue have outreach workers who go out daily to check on the vulnerable population. They always go in pairs and have extensive training.

But the coordinators of Sudbury’s Homelessness Network said the situation in the city right now is different.

“The situation on the streets in 2024 isn’t the same as it was in 2018 or 2020,” said Denis Constantineau, executive director of L’Association des Jeunes de la rue.

He said there is a shortage of shelter space, the opioid crisis is raging and there’s a housing crisis.

“There’s a lack of places for people to go and that creates competition and increased stress in the clients our staff are serving,” Constantineau said.

He added that the outreach teams now do more driving around with the van rather than walking to check on clients.

“The most important thing is the personal relationship with the clients and the trust that they establish,” he said.

The Go-Give Project also has outreach workers and the programs manager said they always go out with a minimum of two people.

“Our staff does keep an eye out on their surroundings, making sure they are feeling safe and they are physically safe at the same time,” said Ali Farooq.

“And if they do find themselves in situations where things could escalate they remove themselves from there promptly.”

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Farooq said there are a lot of new faces on the street that he and the Go-Give workers don’t recognize.

“With that, there are always some chance of somebody being more aggressive or not in the right mindset as our regular folks that we do help,” he said.