Around 100 people gathered in Williams Lake's Boitanio Park Saturday, Aug. 31 for International Overdose Awareness Day. Agencies who offer mental health and substance use supports were on hand to answer any questions and share information.
There was free food as well as activities.
Next to the microphone tent was a vacant chair draped in a purple cloth. A T-shirt bearing the words International Overdose Awareness Day on the front was draped over the chair.
It was there to represent loved ones who died because of the toxic drug crisis.
Several people spoke about their own addictions or the death of loved ones to substances.
Carrie Phillips held a framed poster she'd made dedicated to her daughter, Lenaya Chelsea Marie Dan, who died at the age of 34 on April 10, 2018, two days before her birthday.
"If my daughter was here she would tell you, 'don't let your mommy get the phone call my mom got,'" Phillips said.
A grief counsellor herself at Nenqayni Wellness Centre for nine years, she said she knows first hand people need support to go through the death of loved ones to addictions. Her daughter is not the only family member she has lost.
"I absolutely love the support system I have because I can guarantee you, it's not an easy thing to go through."
Jordanna Camille recently returned to her home community of Xat'sull First Nation where she started working in traditional wellness, which she said is part of mental health and substance use support.
"I've struggled myself with drugs and alcohol," she said.
Camille was in a bad car accident, with drugs and alcohol involved, and ended up in a coma for two weeks.
She said she emerged from the coma and decided she had to get sober for herself and her children.
"When I was using I did not care about myself or what happened to me," she said, adding she lost her three siblings due to intergenerational trauma, drugs and alcohol.
Mom's Stop the Harm, a new group in Williams Lake aimed at supporting families and helping stop the stigma around drug use, had a tree at their table where people could add names of loved ones who have died from toxic drugs.
Michael Moses, Williams Lake city councillor and BC NDP candidate for the riding, said when he thought about whose name he should write down he was taken aback.
"I wrote down the first name, and then started writing a second one, a third one, a fourth one and then I remembered the stories of local chiefs who have lost grandchildren to this crisis," Moses said. "I received a letter from a young First Nations leader who lost her best friend recently and she was only 22-years-old."
Describing the crisis as trying and harrowing, Moses said everyone at the event was there to work together to ensure we have a healthy community for everyone.
"Thank you to everyone for being here and participating and for everyone who is doing the hard work that we can move forward in a healthy way."
Cianna O'Connor called on all levels of government to push for a safe consumption site in Williams Lake to reduce the stress on emergency services who get called to overdoses frequently.
"Families deserve the chance to buy a little more time because it has been proven they make communities safe, cleaner and healthier," O'Connor said of safe injection sites. "It gives people a safe space to use besides in public which reduces drug-related litter and public nuisance."
She said she lost a close young friend from Williams Lake recently who died in Prince George because of drugs.
O'Connor encouraged everyone present to learn more about harm reduction and the role it plays in the road to recovery and truth and reconciliation.
"We are not going to see an end to the opiod crisis until we start listening to the evidence and most importantly the people that are affected by it."
For Sarah De Meda, peer coordinator for Interior Health Mental Health and Substance Use in Williams Lake, the event was an "incredible" way to raise awareness and reduce stigma.
"We know the toxic drug supply is here in Williams Lake," she said, noting people working in the trades such as mining and logging are one of the demographics hit hard by the crisis.
Originally from Surrey, she moved to the lakecity five months ago.
The peer support program is going well, she added.
"We have a fantastic and amazing team that meets people where they are at."
Laurel White, harm reduction and drug checking coordinator for BCG Williams Lake, was the events MC.
She shared some statistics, including the fact seven people are dying every day in B.C. due to toxic drugs.
"It is the number one cause of death in B.C. for people aged 10 to 59," she said.
Statistics are more than just numbers because they represent loved ones, she added.
This year's theme for International Overdose Awareness Day is "together we can."
White said efforts continue in Williams Lake to support people, community members, friends and families.
