'If I OD, they're here': supervised injection trailer opens its doors
Trailer beside Shepherds of Good Hope welcomed clients Tuesday after OK from Health Canada
When Ottawa's newest supervised drug injection site opened Tuesday in a trailer beside the Shepherds of Good Hope, Chantal was the first to knock on its door.
Chantal, who didn't want to give her last name, has been using hard drugs for 20 years. Even after all that time, she says she worries about overdosing every time she sticks a needle in her body.
"You're thinking, 'Am I going to live through this, or… what's going to happen to me?'" she said.
On Tuesday, for the first time in a long time, Chantal said she can feel safer when using.
"I know that if I OD, they're here."
The trailer, located in the shelter's parking lot at Murray and King Edward streets, received Health Canada approval Monday.
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Within hours of opening the trailer's doors, workers with Ottawa Inner City Health had welcomed at least three clients.
Private booths, TV
With eight booths and a large TV hanging above bean bag chairs — not to mention the pot of hot coffee and box of Timbits by the reception counter — Chantal said the trailer feels more comfortable than the city's other supervised injection site on Clarence Street.
"I like this place. You're well taken care of. People care," she said. "I feel like a queen."
Without the trailer, Chantal said she would most likely have used outside on the streets — near a dumpster out of sight of police, or in a public washroom.
"But now that this is open, there's no reason for me to go in a washroom," Chantal said. "It's open here and they don't judge you."
That's the effect Anne-Marie Hopkins, who oversees the trailer's team of peer support workers, was going for.
She and her team are still ironing out the kinks after what she described as a chaotic last few days — from shortening the curtains hanging from the injection booths to adding stronger lights so drug users can find a vein more easily.
Still, Hopkins said she's thrilled to have another supervised injection site up and running in the city.
Saving lives
Jason Miller knows first-hand the difference these services can make.
As a peer support worker, he's at the trailer to help the nurse welcome clients as they arrive.
"For me, it's not about money. It's about giving back to my community," he said, a naloxone kit dangling from a lanyard around his neck.
A recovering drug user, Miller said he's been clean for over five years.
"I was in situations where my life was in jeopardy, and people were there to save me," he said. "That's ultimately the greatest gift that this program can give to anyone — saving their life to give them an opportunity to have a better life in the future.
