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City of Regina brings back harm reduction funding as annual program

Up to $500,000 is available for non-profits launching new or supporting existing harm reduction services in the city.

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Applications have opened for a second intake of the City of Regina’s harm reduction funding, a program that has been revived as an annual support for non-profits working to improve accessibility.

City council approved the indefinite annual delivery of the grant program in November, as part of the Community Safety and Well Being Plan, to aid in reducing the harm associated with drug use.

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A total of $500,000 is available to organizations launching new initiatives related to harm reduction or as a one-time grant for existing services, with a cap of $30,000 for minor grants and $150,000 for major grants.

The first provision of funding was doled out in 2021, with the Newo Yotina Friendship Centre a notable recipient. The centre received an allocation of $150,000, the largest amount available, to fund operations at Regina’s only safe consumption site.

Other recipients in 2021 included Regina Treaty Status Indian Services Inc. for a wellness and harm reduction strategy, the Street Worker’s Advocacy Project Regina Inc. and YWCA Regina, both for outreach programming.

Michael Parker, executive director at Newo Yotina Friendship Centre, said Tuesday that he is pleased to see the grants brought back indefinitely, after launching initially as a one-time program.

“We are thrilled to know that it is ongoing, as we’ve documented an increasing level of people accessing services since we first opened nearly one year ago,” said Parker, in an email with the Leader-Post.

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Provincial funding was not approved this year for Saskatoon’s safe consumption site, operated by Prairie Harm Reduction. The Newo Yotina Friendship Centre said that it did not even apply for provincial support.

But, Parker said in March that the number of clients using the overdose prevention site in Regina has been increasing month-over-month, since opening in June 2021.

A total of 224 supervised consumptions took place in February, said Parker, contrasted with 36 in the first month of operations. He attributed the increase to longer operating hours, as well as the community’s developing trust in the service.

At the most recent board of police commissioner’s meeting in April, Police Chief Evan Bray said that he feels the site is tentatively making a difference, as the number of police-reported overdose fatalities in February was down from the same time in 2019.

Saskatchewan remains in the midst of an overdose crisis, said a recent report from a provincial task force. Overdose deaths are still on the rise, according to data from the provincial coroner, and are being connected to the increasing presence of fentanyl in the province’s illicit drug supply.

Critics of the province’s response continue to point to inadequate access to harm reduction, detox and treatment services as contributing factors.

lkurz@postmedia.com

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