Image credit: "Welcome to Leslieville" by Linda N. is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Description: Mural with the word "Leslieville" painted on a brick building with cars turning a corner in the foreground.

REPORT: Over 2,000 People Support Harm Reduction Programs and Supervised Consumption Site in Leslieville

The Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition launched a statement of support in July 2023 in support of the Supervised Consumption Site and broader harm reduction services in Leslieville, specifically those offered at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre. 

2,131 people have signed the statement as of October 7th, 2023. 

This statement demonstrates strong support for these harm reduction services — not just in the community immediately surrounding the site (where close to 40% of the signatories are located) but across Toronto.

Who signed the petition? 

90% of the signatories were located in Toronto (a total of 1,917 signatories) 

Toronto signatories mapped by postal code: 

Toronto signatories mapped by postal code

Close to 40% of the signatories were located in the catchment area for the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, which is the immediate community surrounding the site (total 778 signatories) 

Signatories from the South Riverdale Community Health Centre catchment area (area shaded in green) mapped by postal code:

Signatories from the South Riverdale Community Health Centre catchment area

The full text of the petition and the recommendations is included below. 

Appendix: LeadNow petition 

To: Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Olivia Chow 

Support Harm Reduction in Leslieville 

On July 7, 2023, a horrible tragedy occurred in our neighbourhood, when a  community member was killed in the middle of the day at Queen and Carlaw, a  tragedy that left the community in shock. 

This senseless tragedy has also brought increased attention to the South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC), located across the street from the site of the shooting. South Riverdale Community Health Centre has been an important part of the Leslieville community for 47 years, providing health and social services to vulnerable, marginalized, and disenfranchised members of the community since 1976. 

Random acts of gun violence are scary and disturbing. However, gun violence is not  caused by harm reduction services, and harm reduction services increase our  neighbourhood safety, especially in the midst of a devastating overdose crisis that  has taken the lives of so many community members. 

SRCHC currently provides services to over 12,000 clients — critical health and social services from mental health supports to diabetes education; Indigenous Health Promotion; support for people living with complex, chronic conditions; access to food programs and programs for newcomers; and programs for people who use drugs and people who are struggling with addictions. SRCHC has won numerous awards, including for its health promotion work within the Chinese community and its harm reduction programs supporting people who use drugs. 

South Riverdale Community Health Centre also opened one of the first Harm  Reduction Programs in Toronto 25 years ago — CounterFIT. CounterFIT opened at  the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, in response to a strong need for harm  reduction services for people who use drugs in the area. And after a feasibility study  demonstrated a strong need for supervised injection sites in Toronto, in 2017  SRCHC opened one of Toronto’s first supervised consumption sites — keepSIX.  keepSIX site reversed 129 overdose in 2022, demonstrating how South Riverdale Community Health Centre’s harm reduction programs and supervised consumption site have and continue to be a crucial part of the response to the drug toxicity overdose crisis that killed 2,500 people in Ontario in 2022, and continues to take the  lives of 6 people in Ontario every day. 

The relationships that are built at the Community Health Centre are incredibly  valuable — providing people with access to primary care and social services,  connecting clients to social workers, housing, and food programs, providing  education programs and adapting services to the most pressing needs within the  community. SRCHC also played a key role in the response on the ground to the  COVID pandemic — ensuring that COVID testing and vaccinations were available to community members, conducting outreach in local shelters and providing community supports to ensure that some of our most vulnerable community members had access to vaccinations and much needed medical care. 

With increased costs of housing and food, the collapse of the shelter system, huge  waitlists to access affordable housing and addiction treatment services, and the  inaccessibility of mental health supports, the services provided by the South  Riverdale Community Health Centre are more needed than ever. Years of cuts to  social services across Toronto have led to more community members needing  support, and fewer services are available to help them. Leslieville has a long history as a working class and mixed-income community, and continues to be a diverse neighbourhood that includes community organizations, low-barrier services, and supportive housing. Research shows that community safety increases when harm reduction supports are expanded rather than reduced. 

Why is this important?

All community members benefit from the services available at the South Riverdale  Community Health Centre, whether by being a direct service user, or by reaping the benefits when people who use drugs and other marginalized people have access to health and social services they wouldn't otherwise have access to. 

Given this reality, we sign this letter in support of: 

  • The many important community-based health and social services provided by the  South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC); 
  • Continuation of the Supervised Consumption Site and harm reduction programming at SRCHC; 
  • Ongoing collaboration between South Riverdale Community Health Centre and the community at large, which includes residents of Leslieville, South Riverdale, and Toronto more broadly.

We also call on all levels of government to work together to: 

  • Increase funding for SRCHC to enable them to sustain and expand services in light of the socio-economic crises facing so many in the community; 
  • Increase funding for the Supervised Consumption Site and harm reduction  programming at SRCHC to ensure there are enough staff and programming to meet the increasing needs of service users, and actively engage with the broader community; 
  • Address gun violence through strong gun control measures and community programming that targets the root causes of violence. 

With love, kindness, and care, 

Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition

Letter to Government

On October 11th, 2023, the following letter was sent out to communicate the details of this report to key decision makers in government.

Premier Doug Ford
Mayor Olivia Chow
Minister Sylvia Jones, Minister of Health
Minister Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
Dr. Catherine Zahn, Deputy Minister of Health, Ministry of Health

Subject: Statement of support reaches over 2000 signatures, showing strong support for supervised consumption site and harm reduction services in Leslieville

Dear Premier Ford, Mayor Chow, Minister Jones, Associate Minister Tibollo and Dr. Zahn,

We, the Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition, are pleased to share with you that our statement of support for the South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC) has received 2,131 signatures as of this morning. Amidst controversy over the provision of harm reduction services in Toronto, this statement shows strong support for supervised consumption services and continuing harm reduction services for people who use drugs in Leslieville, and across the entire city. 

Our statement of support was launched in July in the face of a group of neighbours calling for the supervised consumption site located at South Riverdale Community Health Centre to be closed. The provincial government then announced in August it would be launching a review of all supervised consumption sites in Ontario. This was followed last week by an announcement that it will be pausing new supervised consumption site approvals across the province as it completes this review. 

The pausing of approvals for new sites is a dangerous move at a time when the drug toxicity crisis in Ontario killed almost 3,000 people in Ontario in 2021. All levels of government need to be scaling up their response to the toxic drug crisis, including providing comprehensive support for evidence-based harm reduction interventions and supervised consumption services.

In contrast to the  small but vocal group of opponents, the statement shows strong support for the continuation of the life-saving services offered at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre —  where 129 lives were saved at the supervised consumption site in 2022  —and also highlights how the entire community benefits when vulnerable community members and people who use drugs have access to health and social services in the local communities where they live.

By signing the statement, these 2000+ people call on you to: : 

  • Increase funding for South Riverdale Community Health Centre to enable them to sustain and expand services in light of the socio-economic crises facing so many in the community;
  • Increase funding for the supervised consumption site and harm reduction programming at South Riverdale Community Health Centre to ensure there are enough staff and programming to meet the increasing needs of service users, and actively engage with the broader community;
  • Address gun violence through strong gun control measures and community programming that targets the root causes of violence.

An analysis of the postal code data supplied by those who signed the statement of support shows that 90% of the signatories live in Toronto, with close to 40% of the signatories living in the catchment area for the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, demonstrating strong support in the local community for the harm reduction and supervised consumption services offered by the health centre. 

The Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition is a collective of neighbours who came together in July 2023 after the tragic death of a community member, who was shot and killed in the middle of the day and whose family has recently released their first statement to the media. The tragic and senseless death brought increased attention to the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, located across the street from the site of the shooting. We are not affiliated with any community health centre, supervised consumption site, or any other agency or institution. We have come together as a coalition because we are committed to supporting our community — including and especially people experiencing marginalization, people who use drugs, people who access harm reduction services, and people experiencing homelessness.

Several Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition members have also been members of the Safer Community Committee formed by SRCHC over the summer and have been diligently working on solutions that prioritise the safety of all members of the community — including health services for people at high risk of overdose due to the continuing drug toxicity crisis that is currently taking the lives of 6 people in Ontario every day. The Safer Community Committee members witnessed the effort that the South Riverdale Community Health Centre has taken to address community concerns as part of a comprehensive attempt to find solutions that increase the safety of all our community members, including people who use drugs. 

As in many diverse communities across the city, the instability and disruption resulting from the affordable housing crisis, the toxic drug crisis, and lack of mental health services has dramatically increased the need for low-barrier health services such as those offered at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre. This statement shows strong support for a comprehensive response that includes affordable housing, access to mental health supports, and life-saving, evidence-based harm reduction services to address the overdose crisis. 

Please contact us with any questions as we would be pleased to speak with you about the measures that you are taking to improve the safety of all of our community members, including those at high risk of overdose from the toxic drug crisis, and who rely on the lifesaving services provided by harm reduction programs and supervised consumption sites every day. We look forward to hearing of your concrete action on the above-mentioned asks.   

Sincerely,

The Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition
https://leslievillehr.ca/
info@leslievillehr.ca