Homelessness & drug user advocates creating ties, cleaning up needles in Nanaimo
NANAIMO — With their grant set to expire, a relatively new advocacy group in Nanaimo hopes to keep roots in the community and continue to find ways of helping those in need.
The Society of Living Illicit Drug Users (SOLID) started their outreach work in mid-January, handing out clean needles and advocating for the homeless. They have one dedicated staff member and roughly 20 volunteers who are either present or past drug users.
Since coming to Nanaimo, organizer Jack Phillips said they’ve handed out 3,000 clean needles, collected 2,500 used syringes from around the city and given roughly 200 Narcan kits to counteract overdoses. They were also involved in the tent city which cropped up at Nanaimo City Hall, helping organize the movement and providing on-site assistance.
Phillips said he sees their key role in the community as helping people who’ve fallen through the cracks of society and guiding them through the system.