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Turning Point: Who we are and how you can help

Aug 8, 2018 | 2:22 PM

This month I would like to focus a bit on Turning Point. I want to tell you about our programs and our staff; how we are being impacted by and trying to respond to a crisis, and to let you know how you can help. 

Formerly known as the Central Alberta AIDS Network Society (CAANS), Turning Point has been providing health and harm reduction services throughout Central Alberta for over 30 years. We are a registered charity and currently we serve over 2500 individuals throughout the Central Health Zone, 365 days a year, through a variety of programs.

Woman’s Program  
Rural Outreach
Health Promotion
STBBI Prevention
Harm Reduction
Nightreach
Overdose Prevention
Daytime/Camp Outreach (pilot)
Supervised Consumption Service (under development)

We do this with 14 full-time equivalent positions. Our team is made up of RN’s, Social Workers and various other disciplines including people with lived experience.

I feel here is the perfect place to take the time to acknowledge the wonderful staff we do have. Not only are they performing the duties outlined in their job descriptions but they do so with intelligence, compassion, courage and unwavering empathy. They hear the stories, they help dress the wounds and they truly accept people for where they are at. There are times when individuals literally are not allowed anywhere else but at Turning Point making our days very heavy.

We know that if we want real solutions to some of the things we are working to address in our community that we have to look beyond the “what” and start addressing the “why.”

Our programs are created in an effort to respond to “what” is happening in our community, things such as homeless camps, shopping carts, needle debris, overdoses and compromised health. 

It is important to note that through different means we are also trying to address the “why” which includes things such as stigma and discrimination, system failures, a lack of appropriate services and failed drug policies.

In our attempts to address the “why”, we chair the Red Deer Coalition on the Opioid Crisis and we are an active member of the Central Alberta Addictions Consortium. We are a member of the Central Zone Harm Reduction Coalition, we sit as a part of the provincial STBBI steering committee and we work with closely with other provincial harm reduction (ACCH) agencies on a variety of initiatives.

We know that the only real and lasting solution to the “what’s” is through addressing the “why’s.”

Locally, provincially and nationally, many have been trying to respond to the “what’s” and we are happy to see new initiatives are being introduced by the nonprofit, government and private sectors in an effort to respond. In Red Deer things such as naloxone distribution, the Good Samaritan Act, opioid treatment options and medical detox are making a positive impact. 

Red Deer is an outstanding community and we have a lot to be proud of. Heck, we were just ranked one of the best places to live in Canada! We have beautiful parks, an excellent education system, as well as culture and recreation services that are second to none.

Red Deer is impacted by some less than stellar realities though, that have a significant impact on every member of our community. 

For example, we had the highest rate of overdose deaths related to Fentanyl per capita in Alberta in 2017. Our families are losing their loved ones at an unprecedented rate, yet there remains more stigma and ignorance associated with substance use than compassion.

Red Deer made the top ten lists in Alberta for both hospital emergency room visits and hospitalizations related to opioid use and other substances of misuse between Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2017. Our hospital is bursting at the seams yet stigma and fear are preventing us from providing evidence based services that will help alleviate this, including Supervised Consumption Services.

We have people who are experiencing homelessness camping in our city parks with shopping carts filled with belongings, yet unless things have changed over the past few years, we have the lowest number of shelter beds per capita, no daytime shelter options, waiting lists for housing, no legitimate spaces for people to be and no storage options for folks to keep their belongings.

For us at Turning Point, the needs we are seeing and the expectations that are being placed upon us are extending our capacity. While we do not only focus on reducing the harm associated with drug use it seems to be taking precedence as of late as a result of the opioid crisis. So far in 2018, we are aware of 32 fatal overdoses in Red Deer. Since July 1, 2015 when we started distributing Naloxone, until July 31, 2018 we distributed 10,015 kits and have had 1,367 reversals reported to us. I fear the actual numbers are more because we know that not everyone who uses drugs is affiliated with Turning Point and that this opioid crisis is reaching all segments of the community.    

We need to keep responding to the “what’s” and we need to make deliberate efforts to address the “why’s”. 

And we need your help.

You can make a financial donation to an agency such as Turning Point (Leah’s light for example is a third party fundraiser happening on August 31 on Overdose Awareness Day you can donate here)

You can become an informed advocate for funding and policy changes that will allow for adequate service provision, evidence based drug policy or both.

You can learn all you can about the local drug and alcohol strategy and help implement the various strategies.  You can talk to people about the issues and work towards solutions. 

You can visit the SCS Red Deer website and check out the research about SCS, what we are working towards and why it will be a great thing for our community.

Do not hesitate to call Turning Point at 403-346-8858 if you have any questions at all about the services we provide or how you can get involved.

 

NOTE: The views expressed in this column do not necessarily represent those of rdnewsNOW or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. Column suggestions and letters to the editor can be sent to news@rdnewsNOW.com.