People with substance-use issues who are either experiencing or at risk of homelessness will soon get support from peers who have moved out of the drug lifestyle, thanks to funding for the Peer Navigation and Support Project.
The pilot project, a partnership between the Vancouver Island AIDS Society and Solid Outreach Society, is being funded by the Victoria Foundation.
While outreach services for those with an entrenched lifestyle are not new, this project differs because it only employs people who have themselves experienced substance abuse and/or homelessness.
The society鈥檚 outreach team is already on the street every morning and at night Monday to Friday, providing harm-reduction supplies and recovering discarded supplies.
Their daily outreach services mean they are familiar faces on the street, which helps build a level of confidence.
鈥淲e already have a level of street cred because the people on the street know we have been in their shoes,鈥� said Jack Phillips, interim director of the society.
The aim of the Peer Navigation and Support Project is to provide clients with a range of supports, including accompanying individuals to appointments, navigation of social and non-profit services, advocacy and capacity-building.
鈥淪ometimes, the reason they don鈥檛 take care of themselves is because they are scared of society,鈥� said Phillips, who is also the society鈥檚 outreach director.
鈥淭o improve their quality of life, we teach them how to navigate the system and get the help they need. It can mean helping them find a place to stay or connecting them with various social services. The goal is to improve their health 鈥� up to them being able to go to work.鈥�
Proof of the efficacy of the program will be聽greater individual self-determination, as well as improved health and well-being in participants.
Drug users can obtain harm-reduction supplies, naloxone training and referrals for health and social services, as well as receive education on overdose prevention at the Solid Outreach Society鈥檚 office.
The society also hosts a Hepatitis C Women鈥檚 Group, an Indigenous Women鈥檚 Action Group and a Women鈥檚 Night on the last Monday of the month.
For more information, go to solidvictoria.org.
