Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
What is Harm Reduction?
Got some comments or questions about Harm Reduction?
The Harm Less Club at UVic is looking for your input about Harm Reduction, and is planning to use the input to organize a speakers forum early next semester.
We'll be putting up a canvas in the SUB at various times until December 3rd, so please drop by when you see our canvas and banner. You can record your views or questions on the canvas, or post a comment here.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Participatory harm reduction action!
HRV encourages you to get involved in fighting for social justice for people on the streets of Victoria by participating in 2 actions...
1. Red Tent March
A Red Tent (www.redtents.org) rally and march is being organized for Monday, Nov 1 at noon starting on Pandora Green to draw attention to the grave need for housing. Food-Not-Bombs will provide food and everyone is asked to wear red. Organizers are still looking for sticks for picket signs and volunteers to leaflet and make signs. Please contact Kevin if you can help out, and please send this far and wide!! Kevin- yahlkevin@yahoo.ca
2. Letters to City Hall
Last Wednesday, a man sleeping in a Victoria park was brutalized by 2 City of Victoria bylaw officers (see article below). Apparently this man was beaten very badly and suffered injuries to his head and neck. People living on the streets of Victoria suffer from stigma and discrimination as a result of their experiences of homelessness, poverty, impacts of trauma, mental illness and drug use. This stigma and discrimination is a form of violence and this violence continues to be systematically built in to our City bylaws, such as the recent amendment to the Streets and Traffic bylaw prohibiting 'camping' on medians and boulevards. Now, 2 bylaw officers have been caught for their physically violent attack on someone sleeping in a City park. HRV will be sending a letter to City Hall to demand justice and a full inquiry into this horrendous violence perpetrated by City employees. We encourage you to do the same, and send this message far and wide. Letters may be sent to Councillor Philippe Lucas, who has also expressed his outrage about this situation. Please send letters to plucas@victoria.ca
1. Red Tent March
A Red Tent (www.redtents.org) rally and march is being organized for Monday, Nov 1 at noon starting on Pandora Green to draw attention to the grave need for housing. Food-Not-Bombs will provide food and everyone is asked to wear red. Organizers are still looking for sticks for picket signs and volunteers to leaflet and make signs. Please contact Kevin if you can help out, and please send this far and wide!! Kevin- yahlkevin@yahoo.ca
2. Letters to City Hall
Last Wednesday, a man sleeping in a Victoria park was brutalized by 2 City of Victoria bylaw officers (see article below). Apparently this man was beaten very badly and suffered injuries to his head and neck. People living on the streets of Victoria suffer from stigma and discrimination as a result of their experiences of homelessness, poverty, impacts of trauma, mental illness and drug use. This stigma and discrimination is a form of violence and this violence continues to be systematically built in to our City bylaws, such as the recent amendment to the Streets and Traffic bylaw prohibiting 'camping' on medians and boulevards. Now, 2 bylaw officers have been caught for their physically violent attack on someone sleeping in a City park. HRV will be sending a letter to City Hall to demand justice and a full inquiry into this horrendous violence perpetrated by City employees. We encourage you to do the same, and send this message far and wide. Letters may be sent to Councillor Philippe Lucas, who has also expressed his outrage about this situation. Please send letters to plucas@victoria.ca
Monday, October 25, 2010
Refresh Everything Vote
Follow the link, and vote for a storage space for the belongings of people who are homeless in Vancouver.
http://www.refresheverything.ca/firstunitedchurch
http://www.refresheverything.ca/firstunitedchurch
Friday, April 9, 2010
SCS are:
Supervised consumption services…
…save lives. All credible research agrees that medically supervised injection greatly reduces the transference of deadly infections and costly hospital stays for preventable illnesses.
…reduce open drug use. When people who use drugs have a safe environment to consume drugs, drug use in our public spaces will be reduced.
…provide access to treatment and other health care supports. With the presence of health care professionals, those seeking to reduce or cease their drug use entirely can be helped to do so.
…are dignified. Open drug use demeans people who use drugs and does nothing to address the growing problem of addiction in our society.
…are fixed site needle exchanges. A distributed model of needle exchange must not replace fixed site services.
(copied form HRV email)
…save lives. All credible research agrees that medically supervised injection greatly reduces the transference of deadly infections and costly hospital stays for preventable illnesses.
…reduce open drug use. When people who use drugs have a safe environment to consume drugs, drug use in our public spaces will be reduced.
…provide access to treatment and other health care supports. With the presence of health care professionals, those seeking to reduce or cease their drug use entirely can be helped to do so.
…are dignified. Open drug use demeans people who use drugs and does nothing to address the growing problem of addiction in our society.
…are fixed site needle exchanges. A distributed model of needle exchange must not replace fixed site services.
(copied form HRV email)
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
copied from HRV:
Hello all.
May 31, 2010 will mark 2 years without a central location forpeople who use illicit drugs to access safer drug use supplies and supportfrom their peers, outreach staff and street nurses. The Mayor and Council of the City of Victoria say Harm Reduction is one oftheir top priorities...so we invite you to join us in making City Hallkeep its promise!
WHEN: THURSDAY APRIL 15TH AT 6:30 PM WHERE: CITY HALLWHAT: COME AND JOIN THE CROWD AND SHOW SUPPORT FOR HARM REDUCTION SERVICESIN VICTOIRA. WE ALSO NEED SPEAKERS (YOU MAY NOT HAVE TO SPEAK, BUT IT LOOKS GOOD TO HAVE 100 PEOPLE UP THERE READY TO!). HOW TO SPEAK: FILL OUT A REQUEST TO SPEAK AT COUNCIL MEETING FORM ANDSUBMIT ONE DAY BEFORE MEETING BY 11 AM.
Our goal is to flood the City with requests to speak and to have as manypeople as possible address Council. Please sign up, and please join us on April 15! HRV is also collecting these request forms from people who usedrugs to ensure that their voices are heard. *How to sign up:* you can do so online athttp://www.victoria.ca/cityhall/meetings_addrs.shtml or you can fill outthe attached form and send it in yourself. You don't need to include manydetails about why you want to speak...feel free to use the demands listedBELOW. It would be great to hear from you if you do send in a request to speak sothat we get a sense of numbers.
Either way, see you at City Hall on April15 at 6:30pm! In Solidarity, HRV
May 31, 2010 will mark 2 years without a central location forpeople who use illicit drugs to access safer drug use supplies and supportfrom their peers, outreach staff and street nurses. The Mayor and Council of the City of Victoria say Harm Reduction is one oftheir top priorities...so we invite you to join us in making City Hallkeep its promise!
WHEN: THURSDAY APRIL 15TH AT 6:30 PM WHERE: CITY HALLWHAT: COME AND JOIN THE CROWD AND SHOW SUPPORT FOR HARM REDUCTION SERVICESIN VICTOIRA. WE ALSO NEED SPEAKERS (YOU MAY NOT HAVE TO SPEAK, BUT IT LOOKS GOOD TO HAVE 100 PEOPLE UP THERE READY TO!). HOW TO SPEAK: FILL OUT A REQUEST TO SPEAK AT COUNCIL MEETING FORM ANDSUBMIT ONE DAY BEFORE MEETING BY 11 AM.
Our goal is to flood the City with requests to speak and to have as manypeople as possible address Council. Please sign up, and please join us on April 15! HRV is also collecting these request forms from people who usedrugs to ensure that their voices are heard. *How to sign up:* you can do so online athttp://www.victoria.ca/cityhall/meetings_addrs.shtml or you can fill outthe attached form and send it in yourself. You don't need to include manydetails about why you want to speak...feel free to use the demands listedBELOW. It would be great to hear from you if you do send in a request to speak sothat we get a sense of numbers.
Either way, see you at City Hall on April15 at 6:30pm! In Solidarity, HRV
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Social Action Saving lives...
Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives
With authors Susan Boyd, Donald MacPherson & Bud Osborn
Thursday, March 4, 2010
7:00 pm
Solstice Café, 529 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, Lekwungen Territories, BC
Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives tells a story about community activism in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES) that culminated in a social justice movement to open the first official safe injection site in North America. This story is unique: it is told from the point of view of drug users — those most affected by drug policy, political decisions and policing. It provides a montage of poetry, photos, early Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) meetings, journal entries from the Back Alley, the “unofficial” safe injection site, and excerpts from significant health and media reports. The harms of prohibition, and resistance, hope, kindness, awakening and collective action are chronicled in these pages.
Susan Boyd is a professor at the University of Victoria. Donald MacPherson is the former Drug Policy Coordinator for the City of Vancouver. Poet Bud Osborn is a founding member of VANDU. Susan, Donald and Bud have been active for many years working on social justice issues that both strengthen and sustain the community in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver.
A question and discussion period will follow the launch presentation. This event is free and all are welcome.
For more information on Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives:
www.fernwoodpublishing.ca
For more information on Harm Reduction Victoria (HRV):
www.harmreductionvictoria.ca
With authors Susan Boyd, Donald MacPherson & Bud Osborn
Thursday, March 4, 2010
7:00 pm
Solstice Café, 529 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, Lekwungen Territories, BC
Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives tells a story about community activism in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES) that culminated in a social justice movement to open the first official safe injection site in North America. This story is unique: it is told from the point of view of drug users — those most affected by drug policy, political decisions and policing. It provides a montage of poetry, photos, early Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) meetings, journal entries from the Back Alley, the “unofficial” safe injection site, and excerpts from significant health and media reports. The harms of prohibition, and resistance, hope, kindness, awakening and collective action are chronicled in these pages.
Susan Boyd is a professor at the University of Victoria. Donald MacPherson is the former Drug Policy Coordinator for the City of Vancouver. Poet Bud Osborn is a founding member of VANDU. Susan, Donald and Bud have been active for many years working on social justice issues that both strengthen and sustain the community in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver.
A question and discussion period will follow the launch presentation. This event is free and all are welcome.
For more information on Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives:
www.fernwoodpublishing.ca
For more information on Harm Reduction Victoria (HRV):
www.harmreductionvictoria.ca
Thursday, February 18, 2010
"A Tale of Two Vancouvers"
"The shimmering glow from the Olympic rings above the Vancouver harbor only illuminates the contradiction that 800 teachers recently received notification they may be laid off next year because of budget cuts. The homeless population in Vancouver has more than doubled since the Olympic bidding process began."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/feb/12/vancouver-winter-olympics-protests
Copy paste the link (sorry)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/feb/12/vancouver-winter-olympics-protests
Copy paste the link (sorry)
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
THE OLYMPIC PARTY IS ALMOST OVER -FEB6
FEBRUARY 6: DEMONSTRATION AND ACTIONS IN VICTORIA CALL FOR THE IMMEDIATEEVICTION OF VANOC! *The Victoria Coalition Against Poverty and No2010 Victoria organize “TheOlympic Party is Almost Over”* Bastion Square, 2:00PM, Saturday Feb 6
Coast Salish Territories - Victoria, BC -> The VictoriaCoalition Against Poverty (VCAP) and No2010 Victoria will be serving the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) an eviction notice at the VANOC/SpiritCommittee offices in Bastion Square on February 6th, 2010. After ten years of Liberal cuts, abysmal welfare, inadequate disabilityrates and inaccessible healthcare, the Olympic costs will have direct local impact on already burdened communities. The Olympic Torch Relay cost Victoria over $600,000, and the costs of the Olympics in total will be over $6 billion. “The true cost of the Olympics will continue to be immeasurable as we see anincrease in poverty, criminalization, and ill health of those who are mostmarginalized”, said Rob Crosby of the Committee to End Homelessness. “Themost vulnerable people are footing the bill for the Olympic party, and we’vehad enough!” The demonstration and actions will begin when VCAP and No2010 Victoria serve VANOC with a people’s eviction notice. After the eviction, the groups will leave for a march with speakers and surprise actions. The event will finish with a street feast at Centennial Square. “We demand that VANOC vacate Victoria immediately and compensate thousandsof people in our city and throughout BC for the damages they’ve alreadycaused,” stated Tamara Herman from VCAP/No2010Victoria. “The BC governmenthas continued to ignore skyrocketing homelessness and poverty in thisprovince in the face of reckless spending on the Games. Today we’re callingon this to end!”
*PRESS CONFERENCE: FEBRUARY 6, 2 PM, BASTION SQUARE* The Victoria Coalition Against Poverty (VCAP) is a coalition of grassrootsorganizations that together are demanding an immediate end to poverty. No2010 Victoria is a local collective opposed to the 2010 VancouverOlympic Games. ** *Media Contacts:* Shane Calder: 250-893-0853 Tamara Herman: 250-857-9768 Shannon Lucy: 250-661-0989 Mik Turje: 250-884-6811 Email: viccoalitionagainstpoverty@gmail.com and no2010victoria@gmail.com
Coast Salish Territories - Victoria, BC -> The VictoriaCoalition Against Poverty (VCAP) and No2010 Victoria will be serving the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) an eviction notice at the VANOC/SpiritCommittee offices in Bastion Square on February 6th, 2010. After ten years of Liberal cuts, abysmal welfare, inadequate disabilityrates and inaccessible healthcare, the Olympic costs will have direct local impact on already burdened communities. The Olympic Torch Relay cost Victoria over $600,000, and the costs of the Olympics in total will be over $6 billion. “The true cost of the Olympics will continue to be immeasurable as we see anincrease in poverty, criminalization, and ill health of those who are mostmarginalized”, said Rob Crosby of the Committee to End Homelessness. “Themost vulnerable people are footing the bill for the Olympic party, and we’vehad enough!” The demonstration and actions will begin when VCAP and No2010 Victoria serve VANOC with a people’s eviction notice. After the eviction, the groups will leave for a march with speakers and surprise actions. The event will finish with a street feast at Centennial Square. “We demand that VANOC vacate Victoria immediately and compensate thousandsof people in our city and throughout BC for the damages they’ve alreadycaused,” stated Tamara Herman from VCAP/No2010Victoria. “The BC governmenthas continued to ignore skyrocketing homelessness and poverty in thisprovince in the face of reckless spending on the Games. Today we’re callingon this to end!”
*PRESS CONFERENCE: FEBRUARY 6, 2 PM, BASTION SQUARE* The Victoria Coalition Against Poverty (VCAP) is a coalition of grassrootsorganizations that together are demanding an immediate end to poverty. No2010 Victoria is a local collective opposed to the 2010 VancouverOlympic Games. ** *Media Contacts:* Shane Calder: 250-893-0853 Tamara Herman: 250-857-9768 Shannon Lucy: 250-661-0989 Mik Turje: 250-884-6811 Email: viccoalitionagainstpoverty@gmail.com and no2010victoria@gmail.com
Rose's that Reduce Harm
Surprise your lovie this V-Day with a rosegram!
Pre-Sales Feb 9-10 from 10-3pm UVIC at the Petch Fountain
Pick-up/Secret deliveries Feb 11-12 from 10-3pm at the fountain.
Rosegrams $4.00,
Hand delivieries $10.00
Pre-Sales Feb 9-10 from 10-3pm UVIC at the Petch Fountain
Pick-up/Secret deliveries Feb 11-12 from 10-3pm at the fountain.
Rosegrams $4.00,
Hand delivieries $10.00
Sunday, January 24, 2010
"Flourish"
There was a great turn out at the Welfare, Healthcare, & Housing event, hosted by HRV, APC, HarmLess et al.
The reality of our welfare system was both anecdotally and objectively explored (its cyclical, oppressive trends). Lots of challenging realities were discussed, paired with a variety of solutions and action plans.
1) 1.3% of B.C's GDP (2.5billion dollars)is all that is needed to raise everybody above the poverty line
2) Since when has "basic" & "adequate" housing been enough? There was talk about FLOURISHING and SUSTAINABLE housing!!
3) Is inaction due to a value or information gap?
4) We can do this- poverty is not inevitable. Let's mobilize our people!
Let's eliminate "us" & "them"
The reality of our welfare system was both anecdotally and objectively explored (its cyclical, oppressive trends). Lots of challenging realities were discussed, paired with a variety of solutions and action plans.
1) 1.3% of B.C's GDP (2.5billion dollars)is all that is needed to raise everybody above the poverty line
2) Since when has "basic" & "adequate" housing been enough? There was talk about FLOURISHING and SUSTAINABLE housing!!
3) Is inaction due to a value or information gap?
4) We can do this- poverty is not inevitable. Let's mobilize our people!
Let's eliminate "us" & "them"
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
InSite funding continued...
http://www.globaltvbc.com/world/Insite+safe+injection+site+stay+open/2446233/story.html
Monday, January 11, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Harm Reduction Victoria
A local advocacy group for Harm Reduction in Victoria
There are many links, and resources that may be of interest:
http://www.harmreductionvictoria.ca
There are many links, and resources that may be of interest:
http://www.harmreductionvictoria.ca
Harm Less
We are a Camosun College/ UVic collective aimed at being an agency of education for HARM REDUCTION in Victoria and abroad. Our focus is on mobilizing the student body as a core advocacy group for harm reduction. We hope to break down stereotypes and "us" and "them" complexes, as well as educate our campuses about the current state of our needle exchange, housing situation, and health care for marginilized populations in Victoria.
We believe that harm reduction and access to safe housing, needles, pipes, and other paraphernalia is a basic health care provision, and that Victoria is failing in this area, therefore violating a people's right to equal and accesible health care.
This blog will act a medium of communication and discussion about harm reduction, and associated topics. Resources and relevant material will be posted on this web network, inorder to educate and involve Victorian's in their community, and the importance of harm reduction as a health care provision.
We believe that harm reduction and access to safe housing, needles, pipes, and other paraphernalia is a basic health care provision, and that Victoria is failing in this area, therefore violating a people's right to equal and accesible health care.
This blog will act a medium of communication and discussion about harm reduction, and associated topics. Resources and relevant material will be posted on this web network, inorder to educate and involve Victorian's in their community, and the importance of harm reduction as a health care provision.
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