Port Alberni Harm Reduction Roundtable for Youth Services (ADAPS)

AT-A-GLANCE
Formed in:  2016
Communities served:  

• Peer Youth with Lived Experience
• LGBTQ2+ youth
• Indigenous youth
• Youth transitioning to adult

ABOUT THE GRANTEE

The Harm Reduction Roundtable for Youth Services started as a legacy table to the Child and Youth Mental Health Substance Use Collaborative Local Action Team (CYMSUC LAT). The CYMHSUC LAT was a three-year funded initiative by Shared Care BC. A small amount of funding was provided to Youth Substance Use providers to convene a table that prioritized service to high-risk youth populations through a harm reduction lens. The following year, an OPEN grant was applied for, and we were successful. The grant has been a game changer for youth harm reduction and overdose prevention in our community. Points to include - Partners around the table including SD70, Indigenous, RCMP, MCFD etc. - Has offered an incredible opportunity to engage the frontline servers at an action table and has built powerful collaborative relationships. - Has established a solid Youth Advisory of Peers-Youth with Lived and Living Experience with SU
 
The Harm Reduction Roundtable for Youth Services consists of community front line youth workers including SD70, MCFD, RCMP, Family Guidance, City of Port Alberni, and NTC. Monthly meetings are organized by the Project Coordinator and supported by two co-chairs. All projects, events and trainings are planned with input from all the community partners around the table and by the work of the Youth Advisory

Overview of Overdose Response Work
• Collaborating with Port Alberni’s Youth Services to increase access to harm reduction supplies, services and education for youth in our community
• Youth Training and Youth Knowledge Exchange; Developing and Delivery of Overdose Alertness for Youth, featuring Take Home Naloxone Training.

Lessons Learned
Quote: “Start small! Nurture relationships. Put the wisdom of peers at the front of the work. Create space for peers to show up authentically, and support and encourage service providers to sit with discomfort of hearing Peer stories and lived experience. Share the glory of successes. Never ever fail to recognize the people and organizations that show up, even in the smallest way. Challenge people to consider their values, experiences and relationships to substances and how those beliefs and experiences may affect the way they serve people who use drugs. Always remember that for every individual who is impacted by substance use, there is a family and a community that is also impacted. Make jokes and laugh a lot. Allow youth to be the experts of their own lives.”

Contact

4260A 10th Ave, Port Alberni, BC

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