People First Media program archive
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People in addiction recovery gather to educate the public

November 14th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on People in addiction recovery gather to educate the public)

‘Recovery Speaks’, a series of free interactive learning sessions, is being offered to the public in Victoria and Nanaimo by the Cedars at Cobble Hill Society

picture 512Addiction is a chronic and progressive health issue affecting the body, mind and spirit of individuals with chemical dependency. Not only does it affect the addicted person, but it has a significant impact on family, workplace and community systems as well.

Recovery Speaks is a series of engaging interactive presentations designed to educate individuals, families, workplaces and policy makers as well as people in recovery. (more…)

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At Home/Chez Soi project nears its end

March 21st, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on At Home/Chez Soi project nears its end)

Housing first makes better use of public dollars—especially for those who are high service users

picture 465In 2008 the federal government invested $110 million for a five year demonstration project aimed at providing evidence about what services and systems best help people experiencing serious mental illness and homelessness. The Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi project was established as a field trial of complex interventions in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Moncton. The rigorous, multi-site, experimental research design of the At Home/Chez Soi project was expected to help identify what works, at what cost, for whom, and in which environments. It compared “Housing First” approaches with existing approaches in each of the five cities. For the first time in a trial, it included a standardized definition of Housing First and used assessments to document the quality of the implementation of the program over its first two years. (more…)

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From the streets to a home and a new life

March 21st, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on From the streets to a home and a new life)

Housing First approaches prove to be effective and can change lives

picture 466A three-year-long intensive multi-city study looking into the effectiveness of Housing First approaches is due to end on March 31, 2013. The federal government funded the research through its Mental Health Commission of Canada initiative. The At Home/Chez Soi project has proven—in interim results [opens to PDF]—to (1) improve the lives of those who are homeless and have a mental illness; (2) make better use of public dollars-especially for those who are high service users; (3) be able to be implemented across Canada; and (4) demonstrate that a cross ministry approach that combines health, housing, social services with non profit and private sector partners is required to solve chronic homelessness. (more…)

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“No justification” for tobacco

February 21st, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on “No justification” for tobacco)

Errol Povah’s long struggle for a tobacco-free world

picture 454Several years ago, Errol Povah crossed Canada on a “journey for a tobacco-free world“–which he also described as a “cross-Canada shore-to-shore ‘run, walk or crawl’ awareness and fund-raising event.” It wasn’t the beginning of his anti-tobacco activism, but represented an escalation of his almost life-long advocacy and activism to end the damages associated with tobacco. (more…)

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A mother’s story of her son’s addiction

February 7th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on A mother’s story of her son’s addiction)

June Ariano-Jakes shares a search for answers and the lengths she went to in trying to help her drug-addicted son

June Ariano-Jakes is the mother of five adult children and the grandmother of four. While she worked by day as a Licensed Childcare Provider, June spent literally thousands of nights poring over books and articles in the search for answers to help her son Nathan battle what would become a twenty-year-long heroin and cocaine addiction.

Addiction: A Mother’s Story is June’s account of addiction through a mother’s eyes. The book portrays the progression of Nathan’s addiction as the chapters unfold, how his addiction progressed to devastating and life altering circumstances and how it affected Nathan, his family and his mother. (more…)

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Pastor defies Abbotsford’s harm reduction ban

October 4th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Pastor defies Abbotsford’s harm reduction ban)

Pastor Ward Draper is “bringing the church back to where it should be”—and that includes providing clean needles and pipes

Pastor Ward Draper is ministering to addicts in Abbotsford, in defiance of the municipality’s ban on harm reduction activities. Pastor Draper is the founder and executive director of The 5 and 2 ministries, the only Canadian church outside of Toronto that does needle exchange work. And it happens in a city that, according to The Province newspaper, is the only community in the country that bans needle exchange work. (more…)

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