ANKORS

EKNPUD Meeting in Cranbrook!
2021-05-07 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Vancouver) | Ankors East Office, 209A 16th Ave N, Cranbrook, British Columbia, V1C 5S8, Canada
East Kootenay Network of People who Use Drugs: low-barrier Peer Harm Reduction focused support group for People Who Use Drugs.

Meeting will be held outside now that the weather is nicer

Meeting details…
Location: ANKORS in the garden (209A 16 Ave N, Cranbrook)
Time: 2.00 PM MST

We are living in the Covidian Era, please ensure you are practicing physical distancing and masks are mandatory!
got questions? contact us at:
Contact (harmreductionsaveslives.org)
250-427-8008
WHO IS EKNPUD?

East Kootenay Network of People Who Use Drugs (officially established September 2020)
Part of the Provincial Peer Network
We are funded by the BC/Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors

In 2019, The BCCDC and the Overdose Emergency Response Center (OERC) funded the Provincial Peer Network Project to increase BC’s deep engagement with people who use drugs and increase the capacity of people who use drugs (PWUD) and drug user groups (DUG) to respond to the overdose emergency
The BCYADWS was selected as the lead organization and received funding to establish the network
With the emergence of COVID-19, dramatic increases in overdose deaths (due to an increasingly toxic drug supply, reduced access to services, and isolation) heightened the importance of the Provincial Peer Network Project and the central role of PWUD in overdose responses.
DUG form part of a social movement with broader goals of liberation and autonomy, meant to improve peoples’ lives and well-being by offering membership and belonging which improves their lives in a multitude of ways
There is evidence that DUGs (and networks of DUGs) are effective in contributing to enhanced capacity and social support, reductions in HIV, HCV, and overdose deaths. Importantly, PWUD have initiated services in aid of their community, such as distribution of safer supplies for drug use, supervised injection, peer witnessing, injection support teams, cannabis substitution, overdose prevention sites and safer consumption sites.

Our membership is made up & is open to people who use drugs, people who used to use drugs, family & friends of people who use drugs, and anyone who has been impacted by the drug war

WHAT DO WE DO?

drug user advocacy (attend doctors appointments, referrals, support)
Work with people who are on OAT & Safe Supply

Helping people get to doctors appointments
Taking people to the pharmacy
Attend doctors appointments & advocacy
System navigation
Support while people wait for appointments to get on OAT or Safer Supply
Referrals
Peer Support

Work with people living rough in the community

Advocacy
Outreach (ensure people have adequate harm reduction supplies, and food & water)
Help people find camping spots, and help the move when bylaw catches up to them

Host weekly Peer Network Meeting (safe place where people who use drugs can come and find support)
Peer Engagement

Work closely with organizations (such as the BCCDC & Interior Health) to involve people with lived and living expedience for various peer engagement opportunities
Please check www.eknpud.org or the East Kootenay Network of People who Use Drugs Facebook group to keep up to date on the different peer engagements available throughout the province
Peer engagements are also advertised on @harm.reduction.saves.lives (instagram)

Same day peer work opportunities

Occasionally we have same day pay work opportunities for people who use drugs in the community.
Please check www.eknpud.org or the East Kootenay Network of People who Use Drugs Facebook group to keep up to date on the different Same-day-pay opportunities

WHERE DO WE OFFER SERVICES?

mainly in Kimberley & Cranbrook
The majority of the work we do is out of the ANKORS Office in Cranbrook.
Outreach
we will travel to the surrounding communities in the East Kootenay’s
Peer Network Meetings, Fridays at 2:00pm, at ANKORS
looking for office space in Cranbrook

WHEN ARE WE AVAILABLE?

Weekly Peer Network Meetings

Fridays at 2:00pm
Currently being held at ANKORS & on Zoom.

Zoom is only available if meeting are being held indoors due to network connection
Indoor meetings are on hold until May 25, as per Dr. Bonnie Henry

We have limited seats available due to COVID
Meetings are currently being held outside (weather permitted)
Meeting times and location are posted weekly on www.eknpud.org, as well as The East Kootenay Network of People who Use Drugs Facebook group.
The Peer Network Meetings are open to anyone who has been impacted by the drug war, however first and foremost they are a safe place where PWUD in the community can find support
There is no pressure on the people to attend to be seeking abstinence or recovery. We are there to authentically meet people where they are at and love them for who they are in that moment.
We provide food, beverages and a stipend for those who participate.

Outreach services, we try and keep it to day time hours, however we will work outside of Mon-Fri 9-5. If someone requires help, and depending on the severity of the request we will do outreach on evenings and weekends

Outreach includes, delivering harm reduction supplies, supporting people living rough, & peer support

Our phones are on 24/7, ** we prefer text **

WHY DO WE DO THE WORK WE DO?

By offering membership to marginalized communities we aim to improve peoples well being in a multitude of ways

Our members have expressed the Peer Network Meeting have been extremely beneficial in making them feel included, empowered, and apart of a community that cares about them. They have seen positive impacts in their lives by attending our weekly meeting and getting involved in different peer engagement opportunities

We want to give people who use drugs, and those effected by the drug war, belonging and community.
Drug Users Groups are being proven to be an effective tool in responding to the overdose crisis.
Because our friends and family members are dying at an alarming rate due to failed drug policies and stigma. Over 7000 people have died in the past 5 years, and things are not getting better, 2020 was the most devastating year yet

meant to improve peoples’ lives and well-being by offering membership and belonging which improves their lives in a multitude of ways

Apart of the aim of the work we do is to address the stigma around substance use and people who use drugs. Stigma is a contributing factor to the death tool. We need to fundamentally change the way society views people who use drugs & addiction. We hope that through the work we do in the community, people will become more compassionate and come to realize PWUD are people (before the problem).

people who use drugs, who are not seeking “recovery”, or wanting to change their relationship with substances are often left behind from society, and are the most vulnerable, as people with lived and living experience of substance use and the drug war, we understand, first hand, the hardships people who use drugs face.

Nelson Fentanyl Task Force Meeting
2021-03-31 13:00 - 14:30 | Zoom
Our next NFTF meeting date is:
Wednesday March 31
1pm to 2:30pm
via zoom and phone
contact email: counselling@amandaerickson.com
contact phone: 250-509-0695

Workshop: Supporting Our Trans Family and Friends
2021-03-25 18:00 - 19:30 | Zoom
An online workshop open to everyone in the East & West Kootenay/Boundary regions.
A conversation on transgender identity and allyship – open to all levels of previous knowledge!
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Trans Connect is hosting a series of Thursday workshops open to everyone to help make our communities in the Kootenays a safer place for everyone. Each group has a loose focus, but anyone is invited to join and participate in any date that works for you.
The dates we will be meeting are:
– February 25 @ 3PM (Trans 101)
– March 4 @ 10AM (Service provider’s focus)
– March 11 @ 6PM (Trans 101)
– March 25 @ 6PM (Family + loved one’s focus)
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To register for this workshop on March 25, click here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/reg…/WN_1-IPHlOFRqKhPaUzqG-gqg
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Trans Connect is a transgender wellness program through ANKORS that supports transgender people of all ages access physical, mental, and emotional health supports. Trans Connect is allied with many communities including: Two Spirit and Indigenous peoples; intersex communities; youth; elders, olders, and aging populations; sex workers; LGBTQ2IA+ communities; sex workers; drug users; people with disabilities; and BIPOC communities.
You can email me at: ankorstransconnect@gmail.com with any questions.
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I can’t wait to connect and hear from you!

REDUN Women's Group
2021-03-17 16:30 - 18:00 | 601 Front St, Unit #203 - 601 Front St, Nelson, BC, Canada
Rural Empowered Drug Users Network (REDUN) Women’s Group
March 17, 4:30-6:00pm
601 Front Street – Unit 203
$10 STIPEND
CHILD MINDING AVAILABLE
SUPPORT / EDUCATION / ADVOCACY
coordinator.redun@gmail.com
nelson.redun@gmail.com
250-505-9690

Gender Outlaws
2021-03-17 16:00 - 18:00 | Zoom
Gender Outlaw means: transgender, non-binary, two spirit, intersex, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transsexual, gender questioning, drag, crossdresser, “I don’t do labels”
You know who you are.
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◦•●◉✿ Safer Space ✿◉●•◦
◦•●◉✿ All Ages ✿◉●•◦
◦•●◉✿ Confidential ✿◉●•◦
◦•●◉✿ Community ✿◉●•◦
◦•●◉✿ Info Sharing ✿◉●•◦
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Details:
ᴛɪᴍᴇ: 4:00 – 6:00 PST // 5:00 – 7:00 MST
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: zoom video conferencing
email ankorstransconnect@gmail.com for the link and password

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COVID-19 Safety:
Gender Outlaws is meeting online until further notice.
This is a great opportunity to connect to our wider community & make new friends.
You’ll need a webcam and microphone to participate.
Be in touch for the zoom link & password // invites to the discord server // facebook group.
New folks always welcome: ᴀɴᴋᴏʀꜱᴛʀᴀɴꜱᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛ@ɢᴍᴀɪʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ
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What to expect:
◉ A casual, facilitated conversation with a focus on identity, social justice, and mental health.
◉ Occasional guest speakers, activities, special topic discussions, and themes.
◉ Begins and ends with a check-in round of introductions & check-out round of final thoughts.
◉ You might be asked by the facilitator if you have any thoughts on the subject at hand if you aren’t speaking as much as others,
but you are free to pass if you’d like. We just want everyone to have a chance to share.
◉ A quick body break / refresher half-way through.
◉ Announcements about upcoming community events.
◉ Opportunities to volunteer for Trans Connect / ANKORS events and programming.
◉ [google doc] Read the group’s general participation guidelines here: https://docs.google.com/…/1ngMHqxsihxOaL0mi…/edit…
◉ [google doc] Read the online participation guidelines here: https://docs.google.com/…/1HOH-FlFBGKLa…/edit…

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【Ｓｅｎｄｉｎｇ　ｙｏｕ　ｐｅａｃｅ，　ｌｏｖｅ，
ａｎｄ　ｇｅｎｄｅｒ　ｅｕｐｈｏｒｉａ】

NFTF CONVERSATIONS with Vikki Reynolds
2021-03-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Solidarity, Collective Community, and Shouldering Each Other Up

Nelson Fentanyl Task Force (NFTF) and ANKORS present: VIKKI REYNOLDS PHD RCC
NFTF CONVERSATIONS #2 virtual series event. March 10th, 2021, 1pm to 2pm
We will speak to Vikki about her role in supporting healthcare workers and peer workers on the frontlines of the overdose crisis in BC. Vikki is a therapist and trainer in Vancouver. The topic for the conversation is:
Solidarity, Collective Community, and Shouldering Each Other Up
We will explore with Vikki the ways that we can practice social work, emergency work, healthcare, mental health care, and peer support as we respond to the overdose crisis. Vikki encourages us to, “shoulder each other up, connect in the heart of the work, and keep the people we want to be useful to at the centre”.
Biography:
Vikki Reynolds (PhD RCC) is an activist/ therapist who works to bridge the worlds of social justice activism with community work and therapy. Vikki is a white settler on the territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam nations. Vikki’s people are Irish, Newfoundland and English folks, and she is a heterosexual woman with cisgender privilege. Her experience includes supervision and therapy with peers and other workers responding to the opioid catastrophe, refugees and survivors of torture – including Indigenous people who have survived residential schools and other state violence, sexualized violence counsellors, mental health and substance misuse counsellors, housing and shelter workers, activists and working alongside gender and sexually diverse communities. Vikki is an Adjunct Professor and has written and presented internationally. Articles & speaks free at: www.vikkireynolds.ca
Funded by the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, Community Action Initiative, and the Overdose Emergency Response Centre.
Please register below. This is a zoom event. Capacity limited.
PWLLE (people with lived and living experience of substance use) can reach out to REDUN for more support to attend this virtual event. Please email REDUN BC: redun.bc@gmail.com
Registration link: (you will recieve your zoom link after registration)

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/solidarity-collective-care-shouldering-each-other-up-tickets-143838704437
