Latest news with #Siloam
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Another front in the drug-addiction battle opens at Siloam Mission
A four-litre jug of orange juice and a stack of tiny cups are the signs that Siloam Mission has just wrapped up the second day of providing a life-saving treatment for drug addiction on Thursday. The juice dilutes methadone, one form of opioid agonist therapy — a treatment for addiction to opioids including heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone. It involves taking medication, such as methodone and Suboxone, that reduces withdrawal symptoms for 24 to 36 hours. It is the current standard of front-line care for opioid use disorder in Manitoba. It can be used short term or for several years and doesn't get the patient high. The Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction says it reduces the risk of overdose, alcohol-related deaths, suicide, cancer and other illnesses because it increases a person's access to overall medical care and improves the chance of early intervention and treatment. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Kris Allen Pharmacist at 432 Health Group talks about the on-site opioid agonist treatment (OAT) which the group will be providing medical supplies for. 'This would be for folks who are looking to be sober,' Tobi Jolly, Siloam's interim director of community wellness, said at the medical centre at Siloam. 'Withdrawal can be very dangerous for folks. Detox has a long waiting list here in Winnipeg, so if they're trying to do that on their own, it's just super unsafe for them.' The program, which began at Siloam's Saul Sair Health Centre at 300 Princess St. on Wednesday, is scheduled to operate seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. It was started following multiple instances in which people who wanted to be sober were unable to access timely resources, forcing them to continue using opioids, Jolly said. 'It's long waiting lists everywhere they go, (and) this is where a lot of our community members feel safe and comfortable,' she said. A nurse practitioner, who can diagnose opioid use disorder and offer counselling, will be on site several days a week. A pharmacist will be on hand each day to administer the medication, which can't be taken home. Patients' treatment will be recorded and tracked. The pharmacist and nurse are employed by 432 Health Group, a Winnipeg company that offers a range of medical services. Last year, the firm asked Siloam how it could help, and staff overwhelmingly requested opioid agonist therapy resources. In the first two days, five patients were treated, but staff expect word to spread quickly and more people to show up. 'Withdrawal can be very dangerous for folks. Detox has a long waiting list here in Winnipeg, so if they're trying to do that on their own, it's just super unsafe for them.'–Tobi Jolly 'We're building it,' said Kris Allen, a pharmacist with 432 Health Group. 'As new needs come to us, we're going to fill those gaps.' In Manitoba, 320 nurses and doctors are approved to prescribe opioid agonist therapy. Some are out of reach for the people Siloam serves because many don't have health cards and aren't able or willing to leave the neighbourhood on a daily basis, Jolly said. Manitoba's seven Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine clinics, which are run by the provincial government and provide urgent addictions treatments, including opioid agonist therapy, have long lineups and are, at times, forced to turn people away. Quitting 'cold turkey' is not just painful, but can put the person at a higher risk of overdose and death. While the proposed supervised consumption site would be a crucial complement to Manitoba's harm reduction framework, Jolly said Siloam's new program is meant to intervene immediately if a patient is ready today. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. 'A lot of solutions that are long term, they're going to take a while to happen,' she said. 'More detox beds and more treatment are a long ways away.' The supervised consumption site plan is in the 'review stage,' as per Health Canada's website, which notes it is 'awaiting key information before decision can be taken.' The provincial government submitted its application in November 2024. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba removed some post-training requirements for a doctor to be able to prescribe Suboxone in 2023 in an effort to increase access to care. Since then, there's been an uptick in the number of doctors providing the treatment, but there's demand for more, said Dr. Marina Reinecke, an addictions medicine physician and consultant for the college's prescribing practices program. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Allen and Tobi Jolly, Interim Director of Community Wellness at Siloam Mission. '(It's) certainly not what we would consider adequate access or easy access for most patients,' she said. 'We still have a long way to go in terms of developing those services, but things have improved a lot.' While it is the standard of care, opioid agonist therapy is considered higher-barrier to some and works best in conjunction with other treatment, Reinecke said. 'Safe consumption sites are low barrier. We need them for overdose prevention and as an access point,' she said. 'Opioid agonist therapy is one of the more intensive therapies that people who use safe consumption sites can then sort of graduate into.' Shared Health said in an email it's 'excited' another opioid agonist treatment provider is operating in Winnipeg. Malak AbasReporter Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak. Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
05-07-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Siloam gets kick out of donation of 40,000 pairs of socks
It's the most asked for item by people who use Siloam Mission, but it's the one that's donated the least. Socks make life easier for those who live on the streets and are 'essential for comfort and dignity,' said Kendall Giilck of Siloam Mission. The Winnipeg shelter received a donation of 40,000 pairs of new socks from Calgary-based business Sock Rocket. SUPPLIED Bill Heil (left) and Kendall Giilck with some of the 40,000 pairs of new socks from Calgary-based business Sock Rocket. 'We had no socks in the building at all to be able to give to our community members who needed them, so now we will be in business for socks for the next several months,' said Giilck. The donation came together after the Manitoba Nurses Union named Siloam as the recipient of a large purchase made as part of nurse appreciation week. Sock Rocket donates three pairs for every pair sold. 'They're the item that we go through the quickest, and I imagine that goes the same across any organization, especially here in Manitoba,' Giilck said. 'We can't go without socks, especially in the winter.' Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. Siloam hosts more than 140 people in its shelter each night and goes through nearly 8,000 pairs of socks monthly. Giilck said it's common for people to show up at the non-profit's doors with no socks on their feet because the organization can't keep up with the demand. 'People run out of them before they even realize it, and then it starts to add up really quickly. People definitely take them for granted,' said Giilck. 'Someone can reuse their socks because they have laundry at home, but if someone's living outside or living in a shelter, they don't have that same level of access that we do.' She said it's a basic necessity that will also help prevent infections, blisters in the summertime, and frostbite in the winter. 'As nurses, we are always called to help those in need,' said a statement from the nurses union. 'It's an honour to be able to help such a worthy cause.'
Winnipeg Free Press
20-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Volunteers on a mission
Mark McAvoy can't imagine Siloam Mission without volunteers. 'I don't know how I could quantify what they do for us,' says McAvoy, volunteer services co-ordinator. 'They are why we are able to exist.' Volunteers assist with just about every service offered by the downtown organization, which helps Winnipeggers who are affected by poverty and homelessness. The non-profit has approximately 1,400 people on its list of active volunteers. That list includes April Macaraig. The 37-year-old education student first set foot in Siloam in 2015, when her cousin organized a group for a one-day volunteering event. Macaraig returned a few times over the years before committing to a regular role in late 2022. At the time, she says she felt lost and was searching for a purpose. 'I love contributing to the community,' she says. 'Going there and talking to people was kind of my way of healing.' Today, Macaraig volunteers in Siloam's kitchen as often as her schedule allows. She assists with preparing and dishing out the approximately 500 plates the organization serves per meal every day. 'The people there are great,' says Macaraig, adding that one of the people she most looks forward to seeing is a 74-year-old volunteer who shares her passion for the Winnipeg Jets. 'I call her my bestie… We clicked and we talk all the time.' Last Christmas, Macaraig recruited Grade 1 to 6 students at the school she was working at to make greeting cards for holiday packages that were distributed to the people Siloam serves. 'I enjoy helping others so this was my way of getting to share that feeling with these students,' she says. 'It actually made my heart really full to see these students so excited and making cards for a complete stranger.' Sophie Rebizant has served with a variety of community organizations in the past and wanted to get involved at Siloam two years ago when she was looking to do volunteer work related to her career as a nurse. Rebizant helps in Siloam's Saul Sair Health Centre, a walk-in clinic where community members can access a variety of services. The 28-year-old, who is a master of nursing student at the University of Manitoba, provides wound care, hands out over-the-counter pain medication, checks people's blood sugar and assesses whether they need to see a primary care physician or go to the emergency room. The health centre offers dentistry, optometry, podiatry and foot care, chiropractic care, massage therapy and physiotherapy and Rebizant appreciates having all those services under one roof. She also appreciates that the centre removes many of the barriers that Siloam visitors typically encounter when they're seeking medical attention. 'It's nice to be in a space they're comfortable in and know they're going to be welcomed,' Rebizant says. 'One of the things I provide is a quiet space where they can just talk and have somebody listen to them, whether they need a Band-Aid, a Tylenol or just want someone to hear them out.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Volunteering at Siloam has strengthened Rebizant's resolve to become a nurse practitioner. 'Every time I finish a shift at Siloam I'm inspired or motivated to keep furthering my education and basically working to improve access to health care for people experiencing homelessness,' she says. Siloam Mission is currently looking for kitchen volunteers as well as volunteer hairstylists and massage therapists. Doctors and nurse practitioners are also wanted. For more information and to apply, visit If you know a special volunteer, email Aaron EppReporter Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. He was previously the associate editor at Canadian Mennonite. Read more about Aaron. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
16-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Homelessness is getting worse, but advocates say it's all but forgotten in this election
Social Sharing Efforts are underway to help unhoused people vote in the upcoming federal election — a race advocates say is letting the issue of homelessness take a back seat to the political turmoil coming from south of the border. The Canadian Press spoke with shelter and frontline workers across the country who say homelessness is getting worse and their capacities are being stretched to record levels. Unhoused people are eager to vote but few candidates are speaking to them or their needs, advocates say. "Decisions made by all the tiers of government affect homeless people at a disproportionate rate," said Susan Smith, chair of the lived experience council with End Homelessness St. John's, N.L. "These issues are important and part of what [candidates] should speak out about and stand for." Little more than a year ago, homelessness was a prominent political issue as the federal housing advocate released a sweeping report on the stubborn growth of encampments and called for a national strategy to solve the problem. But U.S. President Donald Trump's global trade war and calls to annex Canada have shifted focus away from the homelessness crisis. Darren Nodrick, director of development at the Siloam Mission in Winnipeg, said his 143-bed shelter has been full every night for almost two years, "which is unprecedented." Siloam staff are setting up a polling station in the shelter and helping residents prepare to vote. So far, just one local candidate — Liberal Rahul Walia — has contacted the shelter to ask to meet its clients, Nodrick said, adding he wishes more candidates would make that effort. "It's crucial and it's important and it's something that needs to stay top of mind," he said. At the Salvation Army's Crossroads Residential Services in Saskatoon, executive director Gordon Taylor said shelter clients would like to speak with local election candidates. "Something we hear quite often from clients is that they feel like they don't have a voice," Taylor said. When asked if Liberal Leader Mark Carney intends to visit people in shelters or encampments, a party spokesperson said she couldn't disclose his campaign stops ahead of time. She pointed to Carney's housing announcement last month, which included $6 billion for "deeply affordable," supportive and Indigenous housing and shelters. The NDP said some local candidates have been talking to homeless voters but the party did not say if leader Jagmeet Singh will do the same. The Conservatives did not respond to questions about whether leader Pierre Poilievre would visit homeless shelters or encampments. Jim Gurnett of the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness has posted a picture to social media from the front lines of the city's growing homelessness crisis on every day of the federal campaign. The photos of brightly coloured tarps tied into haphazard shelters, or tents lined up in encampments, are reminders "of the misery caused when governments ignore people's human right to housing," his posts say. "I'm really frustrated," Gurnett said in a recent interview. "I understand that the issues with the tariffs and those things are pushing other stuff aside. But people have got to understand that if everybody doesn't have adequate housing, the social and economic costs of that are gigantic." A report last week from the Ottawa Mission said the city's homeless population has grown to about 3,000 people. Approximately 500 of them are living on the streets, some within sight of Parliament Hill. Mission spokesperson Aileen Leo said they released the report during the election campaign to draw parties' attention to the situation. "There has been a shocking rise in homelessness, and there's also been a shocking rise in unsheltered homelessness, which is very troubling, very disturbing," Leo said in an interview. "And we need a sustained and appropriate government response." Voting is difficult for unhoused people, who are often focused on basic survival and don't have identification or permanent addresses, she said. But many are quite determined to cast a ballot and clients at the mission's shelter can use its address to do so, she added. She encouraged local candidates to speak to voters in shelters and encampments, as long as they get permission and respect residents' rights. "I think it would be very instructive for anyone running for public office to see what living in an encampment is like," she said. Last week in Newfoundland, End Homelessness St. John's hosted an outreach event at its transitional home to help people get identification and other documents they need to vote or file taxes. Staff have been helping people file taxes for months, said executive director Doug Pawson, adding that T4 slips can be used as identification to vote. Pawson and his staff will also offer rides to Elections Canada offices for early voting, and there will be a designated polling station on the April 28 election day for transitional home residents, he said. And though no local candidates have approached End Homelessness St. John's to speak to its clients, the group will co-host a candidates' forum on housing and homelessness next week. The idea came from its advisory council of people who have experienced homelessness, which is led by Smith. "We want all of the folks running in this election to understand that the needs of people who are experiencing issues around housing are important," Smith said.
