Author: Melody Mason

New Outreach Opportunities Fund Recipient, Aboriginal Mother Centre

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The Outreach Opportunities Fund Committee has selected a new recipient, the Aboriginal Mother Centre (AMC). It is dedicated to taking at risk mothers and children off the streets by providing housing  in 16 suites for mothers and up to three children under nine years old. The Centre is able to offer all the support, tools and resources a mother needs to regain and retain her child. These resources include counselling, advocacy, education, training, and spiritual and social support. AMC also carries out homelessness outreach, a family wellness program, licensed daycare and a community kitchen. Nominated by a congregant, AMC will receive funding from the Sunday Collections starting 1 February.

Are you worried about overdose deaths? Forum in January will address what more can be done about harm reduction.

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According to the latest figures for 2019, there were 2.6 drug toxicity deaths every day in BC. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/death/coroners-service/statistical-reports

This horrifying number is despite there being Overdose Prevention Sites, mobile needle exchange programs, the Insite program for treatment of drug users, and other services. If you want to know more about what can be done, come to the Social Justice forum on January 12, to hear Micheal Vonn, CEO of Portland Housing Society (PHS) https://www.phs.ca/.

She will be discussing the Society’s harm reduction programs and further actions she would like to be taken to reduce the number of deaths and provide treatment and other services to drug addicts. Micheal has recently been appointed CEO of PHS and was previously the Policy Director for BC Civil Liberties Society. Prior to that she worked on developing BC’s HIV/AIDS program.

 

New Outreach Opportunity Fund recipient

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The new recipient of OOF funding, starting June 1, will be the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. The recipient was nominated by the Social Justice Committee.

Every day, the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre supports over 500 women, children and seniors in crisis to meet their immediate health, housing and other needs. It helps women escape from poverty and violence by offering long-term support, education and peer mentorship. In addition, it advocates to increase awareness of inequalities and systemic injustice against women.