Drug Poisoning and the Pandemic

Christian – Grieving those who died of drug poisoning

Christian talks about grieving, stigma and dying from drug poisoning

Christian – Grieving the whole person

Christian talks about how we choose remember people when there has been a loss to drug poisoning

Kate – Miracle baby

Kate shares about her brothers daughter being born after he had died

Nicole – Pandemic’s Effect on Safe Spaces and Mental Health Access

Nicole discusses how the pandemic affected access to safe spaces and shelters for those living rough and living with addiction.

Christian – Supporting people who may die

Christian talks about going from zero overdoses to 50 in a matter of months and how to help people who may die

Kate – Trust and listening

Kate – explains how having someone you trust is super important so that you can have a space space to go to

Kristal – Story of Lived Experience

Kristal discusses experiencing homelessness at multiple stages of her life and how that informs her work as a peer support worker. It gives her an understanding of the nuance that surrounds the community. She uses this experience to support people who are experiencing grief related to death from drug poisoning.

Kristal – Harm Reduction

Kristal speaks to the importance of harm reduction and how it can save lives. She discusses how accessing harm reduction leads to the creation of connections with community support. It allows community outreach members to connect with community members and get to know them, and to know to look for them if they don’t see them when they usually do.

Christian – COVID amplified the inequities in society

Christian talks about those that have very little and how COVID amplified their difficulties

Kristal – Grieving the Whole Person

Kristal discusses the importance of recognizing and grieving the entire person who was lost – not just who they were before they had been using drugs.

Kate – Triggers

Kate discusses how she deals with her emotions when something triggers her grief

Kate – Things I do that help

Kate talks about how art, hiking and visiting the cemetery can be very therapeutic