London's permanent supervised drug consumption site is not only a state-of-the-art facility, but a place that tells the city's marginalized that they matter.
Carepoint Consumption and Treatment Services will officially open its doors at 446 York St. next week. The opening comes after seven long years of government approvals, site selection, retrofitting, and community engagement. The 3,600 square foot space has been specifically designed with clients in mind, offering a clean site where they can use drugs with the supervision of health care professionals.
"We are so thrilled that we are actually at this stage," said Brian Lester, executive director of Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC), the agency that operates Carepoint. "This has been quite a journey to get to this point in our service delivery spot for this complex issue. So the fact that we have arrived here and are about to open the facility that is state-of-the-art, that is going to be so welcoming to the people we service, that is good for the staff who are working in it, it feels really good."
When clients walk through the front doors of the permanent site there is a waiting room, a room where they can pick up clean needles, syringes, and wound care supplies, and a space where community wrap-around supports such as additional treatment and counselling will be offered. The room for supervised drug-use currently has six spaces with room to grow to eight. Those spaces have exhaust hoods to remove drug vapours from the room and a divided area for people who require privacy to inject.
There is a clinical room for clients in need of primary care and medical support. It will be staffed by partner agencies. There is also a recovery room where community partner outreach workers will work to build trust and ongoing relationships with clients.
Carepoint was originally launched in February 2018 at a temporary 800 square foot space within 186 King St. Last June it moved to a trailer set-up in the parking lot of 446 York St. More than 700 overdoses have been reversed, 3,123 people referred to addiction supports, and over 8,000 people connected with mental health services at the temporary locations.
As Carepoint looks to shut down the temporary trailer and move to the retrofitted new building, the number of people it serves on a daily basis sits around 40. That is a number, Lester is confident will go up.
"We know pre-pandemic we were seeing 100 people a day at our facility at 186 King Street. So we figure overtime - the next six to eight months - we will be back up to those numbers of people accessing the program," said Lester.
Located throughout the facility are photos and quotes from anonymous Carepoint clients who were asked to write down how having access to these types of services has made them feel. It's an element harm reduction staff state adds to a welcoming atmosphere.
"This facility tells people ‘you matter,’” said Sonja Burke, director of harm reduction services at RHAC. “It is the facility that people who use substances and need support deserve.”
Burke also noted that there are already crews in place who are responsible for clearing litter from the immediate area outside the facility and down the block. Litter is one of the three top concerns of neighbours in the area. The other two are loitering and an increase in drug selling and purchasing.
Carepoint strives to address concerns from neighbours as quickly as possible and has had extensive consultations with them over the past year.
"We are doing our best to build positive relationships and respond to concerns," said Burke.
For the remainder of this week, Carepoint officials will be offering tours of the facility to neighbours and community partners. Next week the facility opens its doors to clients.
Already looking to the future, Burke said there are plans in the works to one day offer drug testing on site.
"We are just steps away from being able to offer drug testing here so that people can come in and know what is in their substances, " said Burke. "It is important to know what you are using. People may think it is crystal meth and it is actually fentanyl. This will allow them to make informed decisions."
Mayor Josh Morgan was among those who toured the facility on Wednesday.
"It's an impressive facility. It is well designed and it's going to give people the care that they need and access to community supports and resources through a number of partnerships that are available in this space," said Morgan. "This is a model for others to follow and it integrates very well with the work that we are doing on health and homelessness in the city."
