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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 11h

“I am fortunate enough to live in a vehicle” - April Lushaw.

April lives on disability assistance and can't afford rent, so she sleeps in her car.

Sidney, where she lives, has voted against opening an extreme weather response shelter.

Read on: tinyurl.com/3azu24ad

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1d

A very incomplete list of things we wouldn't have done if we waited for the normies to care:

- abolish slavery
- child labor laws
- votes for women
- social security
- fdic
- welfare
- medicare
- medicaid
- desegregation
- women's sports

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

"normies do not care about this thing and so it is no use raising a stink" is imho just an excuse for not doing politics, which is the job of making normies care about something

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Island Health @vanislandhealth.bsky.social · 16h

PLEASE SHARE: #Victoria and #Sooke Overdose Advisory

There are options for safer use: Find information on supervised consumption sites, drug-checking services & more: ow.ly/FgyS50PLkLF

To tell us about a toxic drug event/poisoning text OD to 253787.

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Ian Weissman, DO @drianweissman.bsky.social · 4d

"The best way for people to protect themselves against these viruses is to get vaccinated. We are so fortunate to be in a time that we have these protective measures, especially for our children."
abcnews.go.com/Health/covid...

What to know about COVID, flu, RSV vaccines amid respiratory virus season

Here's what to know about the COVID-19, flu and RSV vaccines available for respiratory virus season including who is eligible and where to get them.

abcnews.go.com

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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 5d

"I enjoy giving that back, because so many people have contributed to my success.

"It's really rewarding to see someone come in and go from not doing well to being housed, maybe they've gotten a haircut, to eating solid meals.

"You get to see people do better."

'The opposite of addiction is connection' — Rebecca Roberts

Rebecca Roberts went from being a missing person lost in Vancouver's Downtown East Side to a peer support worker, saying that giving back is a big part of her recovery

www.comoxvalleyrecord.com

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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 6d

Downtown Eastside street artists Smokey D and Jesse Gouchey were invited to paint colourful murals at Chinatown businesses.

They are replacing graffiti tagging with uplifting designs that celebrate the area's heritage and say something about the businesses.

Project Muralize brings colours back to Chinatown

It is a common sight you might see around Vancouver’s Chinatown -- graffiti sprayed across the shutters and walls of local businesses.

tinyurl.com

PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 7d

"The challenge with prohibiting substances is that it causes unintended consequences.

"Attempts to cut off the supply of illicit drugs—especially without addressing demand in a meaningful and comprehensive way—tend to make the drug supply even more dangerous."

www.rstreet.org/commentary/s...

Safer Solutions: Is Prohibition the Solution to the Complexity of Substance Use? - R Street Institute

Developing policies to prevent, manage, and treat substance dependence is complex. Different stakeholders have varying priorities and perspectives that often conflict, and unintended consequences can…

www.rstreet.org

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Simon Wren-Lewis @sjwrenlewis.bsky.social · 10d

Y'days post: Populism and Economic Prosperity mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/10/popu...
We would expect populist governments to damage the economy. The evidence suggests that they do so in a big way. But we know from Brexit that the media typically nullifies the impact of this evidence on voters.

Populism and Economic Prosperity

Mainstream political parties normally claim that populist parties, if they ever got to power, would damage the economy. We have clear evid...

mainlymacro.blogspot.com

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Guy Felicella @guyfelicella.bsky.social · 13d

Mandatory recovery treatment doesn't solve homelessness, building affordable housing does.

I CAN'T BELIEVE PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING THIS .....

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Dana Larsen @danalarsen.bsky.social · 13d

If you believe the propaganda, modern marijuana is 67,200 times stronger than it used to be!

Do you think that's true?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VjP...

Pot is 67200x stronger than it was in the 1930s?

YouTube video by Dank Arson with Dana Larsen

www.youtube.com

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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 11d

It's cheaper to house the homeless - and Dr. Andrew Boozary and his team at Toronto's University Health Network have the economic data to prove it.

Monthly costs:
* Prison: $12,000
* Hospital bed: $30,000
* Supportive housing: $4,000

Housing is humane and cheaper.

Jason Miles’ addiction cost $260,000 in emergency room, shelter and jail stays. A Toronto hospital’s radical solution: just give him a home

www.thestar.com

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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 12d

"Looking at our downtown, we can easily see the power of social fragmentation and mass dislocation" - Chris Forester, Island Community Mental Health Association.

"We can’t ignore it or criminalize it into submission. Neither prohibition nor the War on Drugs were successful."

Comment: Think of addiction as pain relief

Looking at our downtown, we can easily see the power of social fragmentation and mass dislocation on our streets.

tinyurl.com

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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 13d

Governments across Canada dodge having to take action on homelessness.

"While human rights are ubiquitous, there remains an underlying perception of ‘deserving poor’. . . whereby assistance is provided only to some and under limited criteria" - Abe Oudshoorn

The Temptations of Trite: How Policymakers Avoid Addressing Homelessness as a Structural Challenge | Perspectives Journal

Where governments deny homelessness exists, researchers and advocates need to guide the changes and make the right to adequate housing a reality.

perspectivesjournal.ca

PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 14d

Dignity in Community: the Heart of the City Festival celebrates 22 years in the Downtown Eastside.

The neighbourhood-rooted festival features more than 100 events across 40 venues between October 31 and November 8.

Info: www.heartofthecityfestival.com

Reposted by PHS Community Services Society

Vancouver Island Mental Health Society @vimhs.bsky.social · 15d

"For the newly re-elected leaders, the most urgent matter remains the ongoing state of emergency from the prevalence of #toxicdrugs and its underlying #mentalhealth crisis. With every #Nuu-chah-nulth family affected in one way or another by drug #overdose...." #BC www.hashilthsa.com/news/2025-10...

Re-elected leaders prioritize drug crisis, infrastructure improvements | Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper

Judith Sayers and Les Doiron have been elected serve another term as the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s president and vice-president. Voted in by a majority of society members, the incumbent leaders ...

www.hashilthsa.com

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Rebecca Bollwitt @miss604.com · 16d

#Nonprofit leaders from across BC wrote this open letter in September with growing concern for the future of their sector and the communities they serve.

- 1 in 3 nonprofit workers is food insecure
- The average salary in the community nonprofit sector is 31% lower than the national average

Open Letter: The Safety Net Is Tearing — Funders Must Act Now — BC Poverty Reduction Coalition

BC’s nonprofit sector is in crisis. An urgent funding shortfall is threatening the survival of essential community services across the province, with over 200 nonprofit leaders calling for immediate a...

www.bcpovertyreduction.ca

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Vancouver Island Mental Health Society @vimhs.bsky.social · 17d

"The synthetic opioid #nitazene, first detected in Canada’s drug supply in 2019, is showing up on #VancouverIsland in counterfeit pressed pills sold as #oxycodone, #percocet and #hydromorphone, according to @uvic.ca Substance Drug Checking" #BritishColumbia #BC www.timescolonist.com/local-news/p...

Potent new drug turning up in counterfeit pills in Greater Victoria

Drug-checking service warns the synthetic opioid nitazene is showing up in counterfeit pills sold as oxycodone, percocet and hydromorphone.

www.timescolonist.com

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Heather Hobbs @hghobbs.bsky.social · 19d

I appreciated this conversation.

Climate Emergency Unit @climateunit.bsky.social · Sep 10

🎙️ In Break In Case of Emergency, @anjaliappadurai.bsky.social & @sethdklein.bsky.social sit down with @garthmullins.bsky.social of the award-winning Crackdown Podcast to explore the striking parallels between the climate crisis and the poison drug crisis.

🎧 www.climateemergencyunit.ca/podcast

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Rebecca Bollwitt @miss604.com · 21d

The October issue of @megaphonemagazine.com is now available on the streets of Vancouver and Victoria. In this month’s column I feature the youth-led nonprofit NaloxHome and speak with @guyfelicella.bsky.social

📰 Find a vendor megaphonemagazine.com/find-a-vendor/

Screenshot of a two-page spread in a magazine. The article has the title: “Home-Grown Harm Reduction”

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Vancouver Island Mental Health Society @vimhs.bsky.social · 17d

"More than 600 people are expected to dine on around 250 kilograms of turkey at the annual Thanksgiving meal hosted by Our Place on Tuesday. The meal is the first of two Thanksgiving meals this week at the #Pandora Avenue facility..." #Victoria #VancouverIsland www.timescolonist.com/local-news/t...

Thanksgiving dinner for hundreds ready at Our Place

More than 600 people are expected to dine on around 250 kilograms of turkey at the annual meal.

www.timescolonist.com

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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 19d

PHS runners finished well ahead of our ambitious $25,000 goal, making it our most successful Under Armour Eastside 10K ever.

Together the runners, volunteers, donors and supporters raised $32,364 towards PHS frontline services. Thank you all.

Pics: Jeremy Lefebvre and Erin Kry.

PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 20d

"We remember. We grieve. We gather.

"And, we call for change."

Sisters in Spirit Vigils are sacred spaces to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals.

Grandview Park (Charles & Commercial), Vancouver

Saturday, Oct. 4

4 - 6 pm

Sisters in Spirit | Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC)

The National Voice for Indigenous Women since 1974

nwac.ca

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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 21d

“Our housing system is no longer providing housing that meets the needs of the people who live in our communities” - Lorraine Copas, Greater Metro Vancouver Community Advisory Board.

Greater Vancouver: 5,232 people homeless - nearly half on the streets due to eviction

Read on: tinyurl.com/32nz4hbh

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PHS Community Services Society @phscss.bsky.social · 22d

"Objectivity is a tool, not the goal."

Here's a how-to for anyone who writes or broadcasts for a living.

A harm reduction approach to populist politicians.

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/harm-reducti...

A harm-reduction playbook for covering populists

Michael Hauser Tov, chief political correspondent at Haaretz, sets out a research-backed harm-reduction playbook for our addiction to covering populist politicians.

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk

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Guy Felicella @guyfelicella.bsky.social · 23d

My latest op ed 👇🏼

I almost spit out my coffee when I read the headline and premise of last week’s opinion column by Marshall Smith, the former chief of staff to the premier of Alberta: “Banning public drug use is bold, courageous and obvious.”

calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

Opinion: Criminalizing drug use won't solve addiction

It’s easy to cheer for more enforcement against drug users and for abandoning them to deadly consequences if they don’t comply.

calgaryherald.com

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