For people in the Semiahmoo Peninsula affected by B.C.’s toxic drug supply, whether directly or indirectly, a break from grief was definitely needed.
This is why members from South Surrey and White Rock’s Peer Support Network took to the streets for a peaceful march around the Peninsula to raise awareness about the province’s overdose crisis just before the eight-year anniversary, on Saturday, April 13.
“It’s about something that’s serious, but also it’s just nice to come together and have a barbecue and not have it be — like Black Balloon Day was very beautiful and necessary, but it was a memorial. So it’s nice to get together in the sunshine,” said Kiah Ellis-Durity, project co-ordinator for South Surrey/White Rock’s Community Action Team (CAT).
B.C. declared a public health emergency due to the toxic drug supply on April 14, 2016. The crisis has claimed more than 14,000 lives, with numbers continually increasing.
READ MORE: 8 years since B.C. declared health emergency, toxic drug crisis rages on
“People are tired on multiple levels,” Ellis-Durity said.
Organized by the peers, the CAT co-ordinator said the day was to highlight them and create positivity for those struggling and educate as many members of the public as possible.
The community march, for the Day of Action Against Overdose, began at the Peace Point Overdose Prevention Site near Peace Arch Hospital, with the group making their way down to Bakerview Park. Before the walk, each participant dedicated the day to someone in their hearts by writing it down on a note attached to a flower.
As seen on the flowers, some individuals were walking for themselves, another for their grandchild, and one peer was walking for a friend they lost two months ago.
“It wasn’t to protest the hospital at all; it was to show that we love what they’re doing and we love that they have an overdose prevention site on campus because not all places, like Richmond, have one,” Ellis-Durity said.
“Somebody came up to us and said ‘Is this a protest?’ and I said ‘No, this is raising awareness.’ It’s about encouraging our local governments to make steps towards safer supply and as well, seeing the effectiveness of the peer support network and the resources that are shared in the network services.”
The Peer Support Network — consisting of individuals with lived or living experience — runs services around White Rock and South Surrey for people who use drugs and those experiencing homelessness.
With a drop-in program at the Church of the Holy Trinity and Semiahmoo Library, shower and laundry programs at Sources Food Bank’s South Surrey location and a centre for vulnerable women called Women’s Place, the group would like to see services be less spread out around the community.
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Part of the Day of Action was to sign letters to the City of Surrey and the provincial Mental Health and Addictions Ministry to further the safer supply program and ask for a dedicated infrastructure for the peer network to continue their work in one space.
With tables set up at Bakerview Park, members from the CAT and peers collected signatures and handed out educational brochures and pins to park visitors.
The Surrey letter garnered a total of 24 signatures, while the provincial one brought in 27, Ellis-Durity shared.
The event was the first march for the Peninsula, but plans are to continue the event annually as well as add more action-oriented ones continuously, she added.