“His mother is a nurse. He was a smart kid who couldn’t access the systems or help him, and he’s no longer with us,” she said.
“And it happens to many, many families. “
Gélinas shared her story at pre-provincial consultations in Sudbury, Ontario, on Tuesday.
Réseau ACCESS Network, which operates the supervised consumption site in the city, was one of 19 organizations requesting funding from the provincial government’s next budget.
By the end of 2023, the city’s transitional investment dried up, and the organization relied on donations from the industry and anonymous donors to keep operating.
Amber Fritz, the supervised consumption site’s manager, told the province’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs that they’ve been waiting more than two years to get a response on their funding request from the province.
Fritz said $1. 4 million from the province will fund next year.
“Ours is about to close,” he said.
“We have been operating since September 28, 2022. Every month we get busier. If you look at the month of January until yesterday, we have endured 376 drinks and 302 visits in 29 days. “
Fritz said that in 2022, 112 people died of opioid overdoses in the district of Sudbury and Manitoulin.
She said those deaths are preventable, though, if people can use drugs in a safe space under the supervision of health-care professionals.
Fritz said 24 overdoses have been reversed so far, without the need for emergency medical services intervention.
“It’s a position of dignity. It’s a position where other people don’t have to do drugs in dumpsters and in alleys in the freezing cold,” he said.
“We know that people are going to use drugs regardless. People always have and people always will. So why not support people to have the dignity that they deserve?”
Sudbury Better Beginnings Better Futures also requested additional funding from the province in the next budget.
The organization manages student nutrition systems in 90 of the Sudbury-Manitoulin district.
“Many systems would not possibly provide food to their students for the entire school year,” said Angele Young, Sudbury-Manitoulin’s regional director of student nutrition.
Young said the programs feed 19,000 children in the region every day., and demand has doubled since 2019.
“Lately we serve only 3 million meals a year,” he said.
Young said meal prices hover around 40 cents, but that’s because schools are “increasing their budgets” and cutting back on food quality or the number of meals.
“We know that a breakfast program, which is three food groups, is actually $2.25 [per meal],” she said.
For the first time in his 25-year career, Young said he’s already being told they’ve run out of money for their nutrition programs.
Young said Better Beginnings Better Futures receives $750,000 annually from the province to cover its nutrition programs. About $250,000 covers administration, staffing and transportation, and $500,000 is for food.
He said another $500,000 a year would allow them to fulfill the wishes of attractive schools.
The province held consultation sessions across Ontario ahead of the 2024 budget.
Other organizations participating in Tuesday’s consultations included the City of Greater Sudbury, Science North, the YMCA of Northeastern Ontario and the Capreol Nurse Practitioner-Led clinic.
Digital reporter/editor
Jonathan Migneault is a CBC digital reporter/editor based in Sudbury. He is always looking for good stories about northeastern Ontario. Send story ideas to [email protected].
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