The head of a social services board in northwestern Ontario says public opposition played a part in derailing plans for a temporary, emergency shelter last winter in Dryden.
As the City of Dryden, Ont., continues to respond to homelessness and overdose crises in Canada, community members and agencies are coming together to offer new programs and services for its most vulnerable.
Faced with growing overdoses in small towns and cities across northwestern Ontario, a new program is developed to connect people with lived experience of addiction to those still actively using drugs in the hopes of saving lives.
There's a great divide in Dryden, Ontario's smallest city: People needing immediate help for addictions and homelessness are being told it'll take time to put evidence-based solutions like safe consumption sites in place. But for individuals like Shauna Pinkerton, time isn't on their side.