06/12/2026
A few years ago when I was working an overnight shift there was a loud knock at the door around 3:00am. When the staff answered the door a young man was yelling that we needed to help his friend who had overdosed outside of the church. I grabbed a few narcan kits and left to find the girl while the other staff called the paramedics. When I found her I recognized her as someone who had stayed with us regularly. She was unconscious and not breathing while also showing signs of oxygen deprivation. I used the narcan on her and then preceded to start CPR. Just as the paramedics arrived she opened her eyes and started breathing again. Then the paramedics took her to the hospital for care. A few weeks later we helped her to find housing and then we didn’t see her after that. Last year she sent the staff an email thanking us for all that we had done for her and she wanted to let us know that she was now sober, working and also going to school. We were fortunate to be able to help in that moment that she overdosed. Over the years we have unfortunately attended many funerals of youth who died of an overdose alone in an apartment or on the street. We have seen how important safe consumption sites are to saving people’s lives and also building relationships with those same people and encouraging them to seek the help they need. We do not believe that any life saving efforts for people struggling with addiction can be labeled as a waste of resources or enabling bad behaviour. 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that Godly love, among other things, keeps no record of wrongs and that it continues to believe and hope for the best. RHM strongly disagrees with the decision of the Province to close all Safe consumption sites in Ottawa starting June 13. We pray that all of us will learn to love all of our neighbours unconditionally and to work towards making sure everyone receives love and dignity.
