Kitchener CTS employees worry for their futures

Kitchener’s consumption and treatment services (CTS) site is not only a place where people can use drugs under medical supervision; it’s also the workplace of people who have first-hand experience living with addiction or substance abuse issues.

Some of those employees are speaking out about the province’s plan to shut the site down.

Jenn Wyse is a peer support worker, whose role involves getting to know CTS clients, making sure they feel comfortable and establishing genuine relationships.

“It’s easier to trust someone who has been there,” Wyse said.

The goal is to get clients to come to the CTS to use drugs in a safe environment and encourage them to come back in the future.

“It takes a lot of sharing my story with them to let them know, ‘I know what you’re feeling,’” Wyse said. “I know that when you’re using, it’s hard to have somebody look at you.”

Ralph Schmidt is part of the team that checks drugs at the CTS, and he uses the program personally as well.

“This place keeps me alive,” Schmidt said. “If this wasn’t around, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Schmidt spends a lot of time speaking with the people who visit the site.

“I know pretty much everybody that comes in and I’m able to talk to them like a friend rather than a person that works here,” Schmidt said. “So it makes them more comfortable to come in as well.”

Leigh, who runs the drug checking program, described the job as difficult but very rewarding. She said it’s been a big part of her journey of being sober for nearly seven years now.

“Having the support, working in a place like this - you thrive in places like this.”

Brightly lit cubicles stand in a row at the Consumption treatment and services site at 150 Duke Street West in Kitchener on Sept. 18, 2024. (Krista Simpson/CTV News)

Sanguen, which operates the Kitchener CTS, employs 19 people with addiction or drug use experience at the site.

The nurses who supervise the safe consumption room cannot be actively using drugs. But having employees who understand what clients are going through can provide encouragement to see that change is possible.

“When I was still using, I needed that safe place to know that I was still human. I’m still worthy. I deserve to be happy,” said Wyse. “And that’s what this place does. It gives you that ability to know that, ‘When I’m ready – because I’m not ready until I’m ready – when I’m ready, I’m going to be able to do this.’”

The Ministry of Health is encouraging CTS sites to apply to become homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs, the new model it intends to fund. HART hubs are designed to connect people with services, but do not include safe consumption programs.

Sanguen runs the CTS in partnership with Region of Waterloo Public Health, and would like to see peer support roles continue in the future, but what will happen is unknown. The province is currently accepting HART hub applications. Part of that process includes a staffing and human resources plan.

If peer support roles are lost in the future, the people who do those jobs worry they could have difficulty finding employment elsewhere.

“A lot of places, they won’t hire you if you have a criminal record or if you are a substance user,” Schmidt noted.

Beyond that, however, the workers say what they do is meaningful.

“I can share with people what I had to go through to get where I am today,” said Leigh. “And I just want to be able to continue to help people.”

“I love this job more than anything,” said Schmidt.

He worries he will lose many friends when the CTS site is closed.

“People are going to die. It’s not an if, it’s a when.”

The province has said the CTS sites they’ve ordered closed must be shut down or converted to HART hubs by the end of March 2025. Region of Waterloo Public Health has indicated they are working with partners on plans to apply for a HART hub for Kitchener.