To mark addictions awareness week, Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) is operating a campaign called #BreakTheStigma that is intended to shed light on youth who are struggling with addictions.
The mental health impacts of the pandemic are well-documented. To help Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth, it is crucial that CSFS tackles this problem by breaking the stigma around addictions and getting help.
Addictions Awareness Week takes place from Nov. 21 – 27 and CSFS’s Youth Service team will be operating the campaign to exemplify the organization's commitment to serving youth and those who are struggling to stay well.
The campaign includes stories of those with lives experience, as well as red branded wristbands, which are meant to serve as a reminder to accept your peers, friends, and family members who battle addiction.
It is also a reminder for those currently struggling that it is okay to get help.
More than 1,500 lives have been lost to illicit toxic drug overdoses in the first nine months of 2021 in British Columbia.
CSFS notes that a disproportionate number of those who have lost their lives o toxic drug use are Indigenous and that this is a direct correlation to historical and contemporary injustices and broken systems of support.
The organization is also taking the week to highlight Tachick Lake Healing and Treatment Centre as it has been lobbying for a permanent healing and treatment centre for over 20 years.
CSFS Chiefs recently passed a formal resolution calling, once again, on both B.C. and Canada to fulfil fully fund the capital costs of the Healing and Treatment Center.
The organization says this has been formally communicated to the Premier of B.C. and the Prime Minister.
As CSFS Board President and Cheslatta Carrier Nation Chief Corrina Leween has stated, “we can’t keep begging” for financial support to address the multiple crises in our region that include toxic drug overdoses, COVID 19 and homelessness.
B.C. Coroner and First Nations Health Authority Data (FNHA) demonstrate that these crises disproportionately impact the north and especially Indigenous peoples in the north.
CSFS says funding limitations have prevented it form expanding operations at an interim outpatient facility beyond seasonal programming or improving the facilities, which continue to lack running water and plumbing.
It has already purchased the property at Tachick Lake, which was previously used as a resort, but it’s completion requires a financial commitment.
CSFS says it continues to engage with federal and provincial governments, along with the First Nations Health Authority, to seek support in fully developing the healing and treatment centre.
CSFS is a non-profit health and wellness organization centred around the empowerment of Indigenous peoples, and asserting jurisdiction over child welfare. It also provides support for people living with addiction including services for youth, families, and adults, through the Addictions Recovery Program.
