Death By Overdose

Nicole – Working in Community Outreach

Nicole discusses her work in community outreach and how she has lived experience with addiction and living rough.

Christian – Grieving the whole person

Christian talks about how we choose remember people when there has been a loss to drug poisoning

Sarah K – Talking to my kids

Sarah discusses the challenges of discussing her kids about their Dad;s death to heroin and helping them on their journey through grief

Sarah K – Story

Sarah tells the story of her husbands death to a heroin overdose.

Christian – Language around those pushed to the margins

Christian talks about how people who are pushed to the margins are not discussed as part of our community and how we need to include them. As a community how do we care for our neighbours and how do we mourn the loss of our neighbours

Krista – “Exercise to get it out”

Krista tells how she releases stress through kickboxing. Krista continues to grieve the death of her son from opioid overdose.

Christian – Grieving spaces

Christian talks grieving spaces and people coming together when grieving

Krista – “How I dealt with it”

Krista talks about how she dealt with underlying issues. Krista continues to grieve the death of her son from opioid overdose.

Christian – “Grief in the opioid crisis”

Christian talks about looking for answers in great sadness.

Kristal – Attending Memorials as a Support Worker

Kristal discusses the importance of finding ways to honour people that have been lost and how they have impacted you. She speaks to how she often chooses not to attend public memorials for those she has lost as a support worker as they are often very overwhelming. Instead, she has her own personal rituals or ways of honouring those she has lost personally including opening a window. She discusses how this practice was used when she worked in palliative care.

Kristal – Harm Reduction

Kristal speaks to the importance of harm reduction and how it can save lives. She discusses how accessing harm reduction leads to the creation of connections with community support. It allows community outreach members to connect with community members and get to know them, and to know to look for them if they don’t see them when they usually do.

Sarah K – Talking about the cause of death

Sarah talks about husbands death to a heroin overdose and stigmatized death.