Reach Out Chatham Kent (R.O.C.K.) Missions has received a $710,000 grant from the Health Canada Substance Use and Addictions Program for the Peer-2-Peer Program Expansion.
R.O.C.K. officials say currently, the Peer-2-Peer Program operates weekly out of Chatham, engaging people with lived and living expertise (PWLE) to provide low-barrier access to information, harm reduction supplies, community-driven outreach and support to people who are currently experiencing homelessness and people who use substances.
Between 2016 and 2020, Chatham-Kent experienced a greater than 280% increase in opioid-related emergency department visits and a 400% increase in opioid poisoning-related deaths.
Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the year 2020 saw Chatham-Kent’s greatest increase in opioid related events over the past five years, R.O.C.K. officials say.
The expansion of the Peer-2-Peer Program will help fill a critical gap in harm reduction and substance use services to those who live in rural and marginalized communities across Chatham-Kent.
“We can’t ignore the opioid poisoning epidemic happening across Chatham-Kent,” stated Renee Geniole, R.O.C.K. Missions’ operations coordinator.
“These rates may sound staggering, but they only scratch the surface of the true prevalence of opioid poisonings in our community, or the immense cost of living through this crisis. Hundreds of opioid poisonings go unreported due to systemic barriers that continue to marginalize people who use substances. Lack of access to services, stigma, medical violence, and criminalization are a few examples of the barriers faced by individuals we work with.”
Geniole added that by engaging people with lived expertise in the Peer-2-Peer Program, it empowers those involved to share their expertise, fostering opportunities to build knowledge and skills.
“We are investing in the community in ways that will have a lasting impact,” she added.
The grant will allow R.O.C.K. Missions to quickly facilitate expansion of the Peer-2-Peer Program beyond Chatham and into the communities where the clinical settings to access harm reduction support does not exist.
The initial expansion is set to begin before the end of March 2023, and will include engaging more people with lived and living expertise from across Chatham-Kent.
Geniole says R.O.C.K. Missions is thrilled to be able to offer the expanded services and acknowledges the support that has been paramount in the success of the program so far.
“We’re grateful that Health Canada recognizes the importance of this initiative and our ability to facilitate it,” she said.
“We’re excited to expand the services to the smaller communities in Chatham-Kent that have less access to the support they need. And we want to thank our community partners, the individuals we serve, and the entire community. We recognize that we could not do what we do without all of Chatham-Kent behind us.”
R.O.C.K. officials say the Peer-2-Peer Program began in November 2020 in response to the opioid poisoning crisis, when community agencies identified a significant gap in Chatham-Kent (CK) around peer engagement.
To better understand the needs of people with lived/living expertise of substance use and homelessness a support team was created and people with lived/living expertise who fulfill informal roles as leaders and caregivers in their communities were engaged to join the project.
Since then, the project team has met on a weekly basis as peer engagement activities occur in various ways. R.O.C.K. Missions serves as the backbone organization for the project, as their community-driven volunteer-based outreach services foster deep, trusting relationships with PWLE and community partners working in substance use and homelessness.
R.O.C.K. Missions began in August 2019 with the goal of providing a different model of care to people experiencing homelessness.
R.O.C.K. Missions works by networking to identify people in need and get in touch with them; meeting them where they are and on their terms.
This includes building trust, developing a sense of community, while treating all with dignity, respect, and honesty.
Some other principles of importance they provide include serving as a patient advocate, reducing barriers to services, harm reduction, and trauma-informed care.
Currently R.O.C.K. Missions facilitates community outreach in Chatham, Wallaceburg, Blenheim and Ridgetown, oversees the Peer-2-Peer Program and is the operating partner of James St. Drop-In with Ska:Na Family Learning Centre and United Way of Chatham-Kent.
