Drug users in Cambridge are getting outreach from people who may have some idea what they’re going through.
It’s the latest strategy to combat the effects of the opioid crisis on the community.
Eight people have been hired to work in a new, three-days-a-week outreach program dubbed Working to Improve Neighbourhood Safety (WINS).
They’re all former drug users looking for a way to give back to their community.
“Being a person in recovery, I want to try to help in any way that I can,” says Charlotte Wilton.
The eight WINS peer workers have been given two goals to keep in mind as they walk around the Galt core. They’re looking for discarded needles to clean up. They’re also looking for drug users who they might be able to reach out to.
Dennis Purcell, the city’s chief building official, likens it to police officers “walking the beat” and building relationships with the people they come across.
“They’re … going to be able to relate to people very well, because they’ve been through the experience themselves,” he says.
“They’ll be able to talk to them, give them encouragement, provide direction for additional resources – just have a helping hand.”
That’s the hope of Jessica Muranyi, who signed up to be one of the peer workers in WINS.
“I think if everybody just did their part to help out a little bit more and see where some of us are coming from, then maybe it wouldn’t be so negative. I think everybody deserves help,” she says.
City officials hope the WINS program will help reduce the number of improperly discarded needles in Cambridge – both because workers will be picking them up and because they will be informing drug users of proper disposal methods.
The peer workers are hired through Sanguen Public Health, with funding from the Region of Waterloo. A total of $90,000 has been set aside for the program.
With reporting by Tyler Calver
