Native Friendship Society happy despite no provincial opioid support grant funding

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There aren’t actually that many people who come into the friendship centre seeking assistance related to the use of opioids or other drugs, Hazel admits.

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“We have really good community service providers who already do that. Turning Point is excellent. They provide really good services,” she says.

How the local friendship centre will be able to take advantage of the province’s announcement is through workshops, naloxone training and educational material the government has also promised to 21 other Native friendship centres.

“It’s a bonus because the training will be rooted in culture and although we have the agencies in Red Deer who are culturally sensitive, their programs and service delivery are not cultural,” she explains.

“If there’s somebody using opioids who’s an Aboriginal person, there’s a very strong likelihood that person is suffering from some kind of trauma which comes from the history of colonization that has not been resolved.”

The government also noted in a release that in Budget 2018, $63 million was committed to work on the opioid crisis, including the exploration of supervised consumption services in several communities.

In Red Deer, there is ongoing work to bring SCS, either in the form of a permanent building or through a mobile unit.

Asked if she has a stance on the issue, Hazel said she doesn’t.

“I’m going to leave that to the experts. We know where they are and that’s at Turning Point.”