Drug alert: Vancouver. Vancouver Coastal Health: Multiple samples (red & blue pebbles) sold as down tested positive for fentanyl and medetomidine, a veterinary sedative more toxic than xylazine. Alerts: towardtheheart.com/alerts Check your drugs: vch.ca/en/service/dru…

Portugal’s model of making ‘decrim’ work. csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2…

Street artist Lupo’s Beloved Ghosts statues commemorate those lost to drug poisoning. “Treatment programs and harm reduction shouldn’t have to be at odds,” said Lupo. “Everyone’s path is going to look different." straight.com/arts/lupos-bel…

Frontline PHS worker Gerhard Janse van Rensburg is running the #UAEastside10K to support our services in the community. "I run for my colleagues at PHS and our program participants from the DTES and beyond," he said. Please support his run: bit.ly/3S2F5x7 RunCRS West

We're hiring Sheltering & Outreach Support Workers. It's frontline work supporting people experiencing homelessness in Vancouver. Part-time, nights. Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. 8:30pm - 8:30am or 7pm - 7am. $31.56 per hour. Benefits. Union. Info: bit.ly/3WnPR2r

Now hiring: Sheltering & Outreach Support Worker. It's frontline work supporting people experiencing homelessness in Vancouver. Part-time, nights. Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, 8:30pm - 8:30am. Benefits. Union. $31.56 per hour. phs.ca/careers/shelte…

Take a look inside "your friendly neighbourhood drug checking service." It's a walkthrough of Substance Drug Checking in Victoria, a free and confidential harm reduction service that lets people know what contaminants are hidden in their drugs. youtube.com/watch?v=TtnQ_U…

It is estimated that each unhoused person costs the system upwards of $100,000 a year in services. Transitional, supportive and affordable housing would be a far better and less costly alternative. timescolonist.com/opinion/commen…

Thank you Tatiana Dushenina, who will be running the #UAEastside10K in September to support our frontline services. She said: "PHS shapes the social landscape of the DTES, providing essential services that save lives and transform the community." raceroster.com/events/2024/81…

Thank you Blanket BC Society for another donation of bedding to support marginalized people in Vancouver. Their most recent donation of more than 1,000 blankets and sheets means that over the past 18 years, Blanket BC has donated 30,000 items to PHS.

Overdose prevention sites work through building trust and inclusion. Studies show it leads to "less risky drug use practices, reductions in blood-borne viruses and injection-related infections and wounds, and access to housing." Read the science: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/da…

Go, Jessie! Support Jessie Ledwidge who is running the #UAEastside10K to raise funds for PHS. Jessie: "I came from a place where I thought there was no return but with the support and love from others I was able to turn my life around.” raceroster.com/events/2024/81…

Shout out to David Witty for some factual pushback on myths about homelessness. nanaimobulletin.com/opinion/opinio…

The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre is hosting a community get-together on Tuesday (August 20). Their annual Summer Fun Day street party is in Columbia Street's 300-block (between E. Hastings and E. Cordova) from 10 am, with food served 12:30 pm.

Paramedic Anthony Condotta will do a half-ironman on Sunday (Aug. 25) to raise funds for Insite. That's a 1.9 km swim, a 90 km ride and a 21.1km run to support harm reduction and healthcare in the Downtown Eastside. gofundme.com/f/ironmedic-a-…

Pharmacist Jenni Wenger runs the #UAEastside10K to support frontline PHS services. "Getting to know and provide care for patients at the clinic has been an amazing experience and I continue to be inspired by the dedication of the PHS team," she said. raceroster.com/events/2024/81…

Thank you Sysco Canada for donating uniforms for our PHS Food Program staff. We produce 1,500 meals every day for our Vancouver supportive housing residents, shelter guests and program participants.

Hooray for paramedic Anthony Condotta who did a half-ironman to raise funds for Insite! He's accepting GoFundMe donations until tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 31): bit.ly/4g3YUia

Today - August 31 - is International Overdose Awareness Day, a global event to commemorate the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have lost their lives to the drug poisoning emergency.

"I wouldn’t be alive today without supervised consumption services" - Guy Felicella. "My last overdose was Feb. 18, 2013, at Booth 5 in Insite. "It was the staff at that SCS who not only saved my life, but got me into detox the next day." thestar.com/opinion/contri…