Voluntary organization in Sudbury, Ontario gets new space to help people with substance use disorders

A Sudbury volunteer organization that fills gaps in services for people with substance use disorders will soon have its own space in the city’s downtown core.

The Go-Give project will move into a space at 154 B Durham Street near the Sudbury YMCA in November.

Evie Ali, the organization’s executive director, said the move to a central location will bring some relief to their volunteers.

« Most of our office supplies, donations and needle exchange program supplies have been stored between our volunteers’ residential addresses, » Ali said.

« And as you can imagine, it was very overwhelming and presented challenges in terms of procurement and management oversight. »

The central location will also make it easier to collect donations and connect with their customers.

Ali said the Go-Give project fills service gaps when other providers are closed – late at night or during holidays.

Their main goal is to help people who suffer from substance use disorders by providing harm reduction, first aid if needed, and making sure people get to their appointments on time. .

Ali said they plan to hire case managers in the near future to help them better serve their clients.

The organization has been in existence for two years now and will soon begin its third winter doing mobile outreach.

In recent years, the number of people who have had to use the city’s warming centers has been « incredibly high, » Ali said, and she expects that to continue.

Sudbury’s Homeless

In an email to CBC News, City of Greater Sudbury spokesperson Sacha Novack said the city currently has 178 active homeless people on its list of names.

The List by Name is a voluntary list that connects people with a number of city-affiliated social services.

« Of the 178 people who are actively homeless, 13 are staying in encampments, 72 are homeless, 51 are in shelter, and 42 are tentatively housed or ‘unknown,' » Novack said.

Novack said city staff will report to council Nov. 8 regarding the current level of service and capacity trends.

“The council has not led any plans for a 24-hour warming center, and we would revert to the previously budgeted level of service, which includes the cold weather alert program,” she said in the email. .

Ali said that while they will continue to offer mobile services to their customers, they are also dealing with an increasing number of customers who are housed but need help connecting to resources and treatment.