October 2023 Newsletter
Hello members & comrades,
September absolutely flew by for us at CAPUD, so we combined the two months into an update for October.
A genuine thank you for the time, energy and love you all put into International Awareness Day 2023 events across the country. CAPUD hosted an online advocacy panel with amazing panelists and saw over 100 people join us in solidarity. Coming together to remember loved ones, support others and call for action to end preventable deaths, is imperative.
Some of our staff and Board members organized and attended events. On our website and socials, we amplified those from each province that were led by people who use drugs #WeSeeYou
CAPUD Staff have had opportunities to represent the organization in person recently. Andrzej traveled to Paris, France to attend the Contemporary Drug Problems conference in early September. Jenn presented our research document Hear Us See Us Respect Us to AAWEAR (Alberta Alliance who Educate and Advocate Responsibly) at the Harm Reduction Summit in Calgary, Alberta. Our Executive Director, Natasha will be in attendance at the INHSU International Conference on Health & Hepatitis in Substance Users in Geneva, Switzerland mid October.
Our community-based research project Overdose Anarchy: Grief, Trauma & Burnout in Harm Reduction is in the final writing stages and best practice recommendations are being developed by the team. This is the only document we know of that is for us, by us as drug users that reflects the collective grief and burnout we experience in our work. We are honored to share what we have learned from our members' experiences and what support looks like on the frontline of a drug poisoning crisis.
The trades working group took a short break last month but soon will be meeting again and hope to create some one-pagers and infographics from our collaboration with the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum. The educational modules about stigma, discrimination and safety on worksites are now being used in CAF course materials. We look forward to continuing our work in this partnership.
We are pleased to be collaborating on a 3 part webinar series with Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington region, beginning on October 31 with Harm Reduction 101 with Maria Scotton as the guest speaker.
Very soon we will announce the recipients of a microgrant opportunity with CAPUD. Please note this was a targeted call. The microgrant funding will help to build a foundation for people who use drugs to do meaningful, innovative work in their communities. We are so excited to support these projects!
