Open houses at South Riverdale Community Health Centre to highlight public safety changes, services
By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC) will be hosting three open house sessions this month for community members to learn more about the services provided at the facility.
The first open house is set for Wednesday, Jan. 17, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the centre located at 955 Queen St. E.
The second open house will be on Saturday, Jan. 20, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; while a third session is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 22, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. All of the open houses will take place at the SRCHC building at 955 Queen St. E.
Following the death of Leslieville resident Karolina Huebner-Makurat – a 44-year-old mother of two who was fatally shot on the afternoon of July 7 of 2023 while she was innocently crossing the street near the facility – SRCHC faced intense public scrutiny with community members questioning the centre’s services and its approach towards helping those suffering from addiction at its safe injection/consumption site.
Although there were calls to shut down the addiction service operation, the Province of Ontario opted for a Critical Incident Review of SRCHC and 16 other safe consumption sites in Ontario.
During this process, South Riverdale Community Health Centre saw the province appoint Jill Campbell, a former executive at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), as the new supervisor due to her experience working with a similar clientele.
“Since starting my role as supervisor of the Consumption and Treatment Service at SRCHC in October I have met with many residents and local groups to listen to their concerns about security and safety and what improvements are needed,” said Campbell in SRCHC’s January newsletter.
Prior to the shooting which occurred in the intersection of Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue after a dispute between three men, residents in the surrounding neighbourhood complained about a lack of security around the SRCHC facility which had begun to attract illegal activities and violence against community members.
According to Campbell, there has been a lot of work done to address the community’s safety concerns since she was given full authority on decisions made to improve operations.
This, she said, included hiring adequate security; erecting fencing between SRCHC and the neighbouring Queen Street East Presbyterian Church; collaborating with Toronto police in order to improve functionality of security cameras and lighting; as well as more frequent community needle sweeps.
SRCHC is now hoping to present these changes to the community with the aim of letting residents know more about the new approach of the consumption and treatment services provided at the centre.
At the open house events, SRCHC CEO Jason Altenberg will be further elaborating on the steps that have been taken to address community concerns.
Health staff will also be available to answer questions about the harm reduction and the Consumption and Treatment Service, diabetes education, chiropody, physiotherapy, food security, family medicine and other services provided by SRCHC.
For more information, please visit https://www.srchc.ca/
– Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.
