July 12, 2024
Manitoba Government Partners with Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre to Establish Canada's First Indigenous-Led Supervised Consumption Site
The Manitoba government is providing $727,000 to support the development of an Indigenous-led supervised consumption site in Winnipeg in partnership with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre of Winnipeg (AHWC), Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith shared today at an event with community partners.
“Our government is proud to help establish the first Indigenous-led supervised consumption site with connections to health and social supports including addictions services,” said Smith. “We know that a service model grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing, world views and perspectives is needed, and the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre is well-positioned to ensure community needs are centred.”
The minister noted Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre will lead the service design and delivery of the new site, and a new co-ordinator with Shared Health will ensure service integration with the broader provincial mental health and addiction system.
“This space is long overdue. Our Indigenous and non-Indigenous relatives continue to die from overdoses and the toxic drug supply, and we must do more,” said Della Herrera, executive director, AHWC and also a member of the Manitoba government’s Matriarch Circle. “This solution is Indigenous-led and guided by people with lived and living experience, wherever they are on their journey.”
Herrera, along with Monica Cyr, senior director of clinical operations, and Charlene Hallett, cultural health and integration lead, are leading an addiction-to-treatment wraparound-care model for those who will access the site.
“We’re excited to be working alongside Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre as they develop and launch this Indigenous-led supervised consumption site in Winnipeg,” said Dr. Erin Knight, medical lead, Rapid Access to Addiction Medicine (RAAM) for Shared Health. “This space, as one part of a larger harm reduction strategy, will complement and integrate with treatment services to better support people who use drugs and contribute to a safer community for us all.”
Supervised consumption sites typically include a reception area, consumption spaces and post-consumption common areas, noted the minister. Staff are trained to respond to accidental overdoses and other emergencies and can refer to and support patrons in accessing health and social services.
The Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre is Manitoba’s only urban-Indigenous community health agency. For more information about its programs and services, visit https://ahwc.ca.
- 30 -