Overdose Awareness Day focuses on help and healing
August 31 is “a day to honour those we’ve, support those still struggling and recognize the resilience of the individuals affected by this crisis,” Heather Boswell, from Moms Stop the Harm and a Healing Hearts facilitator told Fort St. John city council on Monday.
Boswell and Hailey Testawich of Nenan Dane-Zaa Family Services gave a short presentation to council on August 11, asking that August 31 be proclaimed Overdose Awareness Day.
For the past six years, the Fort St. John Community Action Team (FSJ CAT) has organized activities to raise awareness about the overdose crisis, highlighting the need for continued outreach and education.
Since 2016, some 49,000 Canadians have died from a drug overdose, said Testawich.
“Each one a person with a story, a family, a community in mourning.”
This is a crisis which has hit Indigenous people particularly hard, and in 2024 First Nations people died at 6.7 times the rate of other BC residents.
“Here in Fort St. John, we do have a drug crisis. The impact is severe, especially in our community,” she said.