Get Involved

There are several ways that you can support harm reduction in Leslieville.

If you have 30 seconds:

If you have 1 minute: 

  • Send a message to your elected representative expressing your support for harm reduction. Use our templates and tips at the bottom of this page under Write to your representatives.

If you have 2 minutes:

  • Call the Office of the Premier at 416-325-1941 (yes, people pick up the phone!) and let the person know you support the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, harm reduction, and supervised consumption sites.  

If you have more time: 

  • Educate yourself about harm reduction, supervised consumption sites, and the toxic drug crisis. Our Resource library is a great place to start.
  • Have kind conversations with your neighbours about how harm reduction makes a safer community overall. Tell them why you support SRCHC and safe consumption sites.
  • If you have skills, resources and/or energy to contribute to the work of the Leslieville Harm Reduction Coalition, please contact us at leslievillehrcoalition@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!  

If you have funds — small or large:

And as always:

  • Treat all neighbours and community members with compassion, kindness, and care. Let’s lift each other up, free from stigma, and discrimination.

Write to your representatives

Here is a letter written by one of our coalition members. You are welcome to use it as a template for your own letter to policymakers. Feel free to personalize it and insert your own thoughts. You can also adapt it for other communities.  

Subject: Support for the supervised injection site at South Riverdale Community Health Centre

I am writing as a community member who is deeply affected by the violent death that took place in our neighbourhood on Friday July 7th. This tragedy took the life of a local mother. I strongly believe this was a preventable death that is related to ongoing systemic issues in Toronto — including poverty, homelessness, racism, gender-based violence, and social isolation.

[Note: Letters like this are much more effective if you include personal details. For example, what intersection you live at, how long you’ve lived there, and if you have any personal experience with the issue at hand. We recommend you add this in!]

I am also a proponent of harm reduction and a supporter of community members who use drugs and community members who are unhoused. I want to express my support for the work of the entire team at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre including the crucial work being done at keepSIX, the supervised consumption site that they run.

Random acts of gun violence are scary and disturbing. However, gun violence is not caused by harm reduction services. 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.

I hope you also see this tragedy as linked to ongoing social and economic crises, including the critical shortage of social services, healthcare, and housing.  All levels of government must work together to address these crises and strengthen gun control. Please join me in calling for the expansion of harm reduction supports and outreach in this area.

Your Name

Your Address or postal code 

If you are in Leslieville, send your letters to:

Municipal level: mayor_chow@toronto.ca; councillor_fletcher@toronto.ca; nicolas.valverde@toronto.ca; and susan.serran@toronto.ca.

Provincial level: premier@ontario.ca; sylvia.jones@ontario.ca; and tabunsp-co@ndp.on.ca.

Federal level: julie.dabrusin@parl.gc.ca and carolyn.bennett@parl.gc.ca.

If you are not in Leslieville, you can find the right contacts as follows:

To find your Toronto City Councillor and Ward call 311 or go to the City’s Member of Council page website and enter your address.

To find your Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) call 416-325-7500, TTY 416-325-9426, or go to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario website and enter your postal code.

To find your Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) call 1-866-599-4999, TTY 613-995-2266, or go to the Parliament of Canada website and enter your postal code.