Safe Consumption Site the main issue among those attending open house at South Riverdale Community Health Centre this week

By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A revolving door of curious residents visited the South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC) on Monday, Jan. 22, for an open house at the Queen Street East facility.

It was the third and final day of a series of open houses hosted by SRCHC this month to give community members an opportunity to directly learn more about the facility.

From the multitude of seniors support groups to the women’s health screening services; the Wednesday community meals to the Women’s Harm Reduction Drop-In; community members toured the building at 955 Queen St. E., just east of Carlaw Avenue, engaging with staff members and digesting information about SRCHC’s many offerings.

However, although the facility is host to a plethora of vital community services, most community residents who attended the open house on Monday had their focus on one aspect of the operation: the Consumption and Treatment Service which offers addicts – many of whom are hoping to slowly overcome their addiction – a safe environment in which they can consume street drugs under supervision.

Following the death of Leslieville resident Karolina Huebner-Makurat in a shooting that took place across from the facility in July of last year, SRCHC and how it operates was put under a bright spotlight.

This attention was heightened due to the fact that many members of the community had warned City of Toronto and other officials, on multiple occasions, about the looming dangers they were experiencing as a result of an increase in illegal activities outside SRCHC last summer.

Residents complained about a lack of security which spurred a collective loss of the feeling of safety as people who were under the influence of drugs had reportedly, on several occasions, threatened or attacked residents of the surrounding neighbourhood.

Since Huebner-Makurat’s murder, however, the community’s worries have gone into overdrive, triggering action from the provincial government which mandated a Critical Incident Review of 17 safe consumption sites in Ontario – SRCHC being the main focus.

Community Health Centres are provincially funded and mandate facilities. Municipal governments do not have direct control over the operations of Community Health Centres or the safe consumption sites in Ontario.

“We’re still waiting for the result,” said SRCHC CEO Jason Altenberg of the provincial review of the safe consumption sites.

“It’s been a couple of months now so we’re expecting the results from that to come out at the end of February.”

Although there has been no feedback from the province yet, and SRCHC is still awaiting official recommendations, the facility said it has taken necessary steps to rectify earlier concerns and issues.

For example, physical barriers were erected between the SRCHC and the neighbouring church where people used to gather – a space which often attracted illicit activities.

That suggestion, Altenberg told Beach Metro Community News, came from a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) audit which SRCHC undertook in collaboration with the Toronto Police Service.

The goal of that audit was to reduce the number of spaces in the surrounding area in which people buying or selling illegal drugs can congregate.

Although SRCHC is hoping to change area residents’ perspective about the facility with such steps – changes which have also seen an increase in security and more frequent needle sweeps  –Altenberg said that there has been a “mix of feedback” from the community.

“Some people feel like the changes have made a big difference while some still want to see the [safe consumption site] removed,” he said.

At the Jan. 22 open house, however, a positive aura swept through the space as informative conversations and community engagement could be witnessed all across the facility.

With 53 unique service users per month (868 visits per month) and 129 overdoses reversed in 2022, many members of the community expressed an understanding of the value of the SRCHC’s safe consumption services and the many other programs the facility offers.

– 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.