CAT AT-A-GLANCE
Formed in: 2016
Number of members: 30
Communities served:
Name of Town: Kamloops,
Unique features:
Implemented a culturally informed subcommittee called the Indigenous Team of Champions.
A Q&A with Kristi Rintoul of the Kamloops CAT.
“The focus of conversations started to shift from “problem behaviors” to supporting folks with substance use challenges and educating the public through anti-stigma campaigns,” – Kristi Rintoul, Director of Community Impact, United Way Thompson Nicola Cariboo
Members of the Community Action Initiative team sat down with Kristi Rintoul, Director of Community Impact, United Way Thompson Nicola Cariboo to discuss the evolution, learnings, and proud moments experienced while working with the Kamloops CAT. Here’s what she had to say.
Kristi Rintoul (KR): In 2016, Kamloops facilitated working meetings of members from the coordinated enforcement taskforce led by the City, addressing issues around what they called “problem behaviors”. They discussed things like panhandling, unsafe behavior, loitering, and bylaw infractions. I remember the first couple meetings included restaurant, store, and bar owners coming forward to talk about the downtown strip and how people were “bothering” their patrons. Many social service providers wanted to expand the conversation by identifying that these people are human beings and there needs to be conversations around language and ways to address these folks in a respectful way instead of just trying to “move the problem”.
- The original goal was focused on local businesses being able to provide a safe space for their clients, while ensuring that marginalized people living on the street or street entrenched were also safe. The conversation evolved into being a platform to discuss the incoming mobile injection sites and then from there, with the help of some funding from CAI, the focus of conversations started to shift from “problem behaviors” to supporting folks with substance use challenges and educating the public through anti-stigma campaigns. In 2019, to have a more neutral body facilitating the table and acting as financial lead agency for any funding received, United Way was asked to take over the facilitation of the newly formed CAT.
KR: We have a subcommittee of the CAT called the Indigenous Team of Champions for Wellness that is made up of both on-reserve and off-reserve agencies. The subcommittee has done multiple projects that have been culturally informed. For example, creating and distributing 400 wellness bags – with local Indigenous artwork displayed on the bag – filled with resources including Naloxone kits.
Our CAT uses a guiding philosophy called “wellbriety” that is brought to us by one of the knowledge keepers and offers folks a way to connect to the recovery community, focusing on growth and wellness. Wellbriety support groups are offered every weekday online and are held by a mental health and addictions support worker and member of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc.
We have a billboard on reserve, visible from the major highway. The message is written in Secwepemctsín first and then translated into English. We're working closely with Tk̓emlúps to change the messaging on the billboard every ten weeks – which we're proud of. The focus of the messaging is on cultural safety and humility and addresses stigma.
CAI: What are some initiatives your CAT has engaged in to fight stigma? KR: That's an area we're working on with Addiction Matters Kamloops Coalition. Last year we ran an anti-stigma campaign where we encouraged folks to Take the Pledge to end stigma. The campaign asked people in our community to consider the way words shape how we think about addiction and people affected by substance use and how we choose to care for them.
Also, right before Christmas 2020 we put on a radio campaign around normalizing the conversation and included a mix of people with lived and living experience of substance use, as well as the Executive Director of Royal Inland Hospital Foundation. We don’t have many radio stations in Kamloops, so these clips were broadcast on every station.
CAI: Is your CAT working with industry-specific sectors?KR: We see a high rate of trades people using pain-relieving substances such as opioids, given the labor-intensive nature of their work and high rate of injuries. So, having the Thompson Rivers University trades department at the CAT table is so important for sharing resources. We also work with multiple workplaces, for example the Steel Workers Unions, who share resources from Addictions Matters, and the Indigenous Team of Champions for Wellness. We discuss resources like the Lifeguard App and getting people familiar with using these easily accessible tools. This is a tool that specifically supports those who are most at risk of overdose death – people who use alone.
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