Project Goals
The project's primary goals are to reduce or eliminate any existing barriers, and to increase or improve access to health care and social services for this marginalized population. This includes services related to prevention, treatment, and care. Morever, this project seeks to engage clients of ANKORS in this project by supporting peer development and training of the Rural Empowered Drug
Users Network (REDUN), and by hosting meetings that provide clients with information regarding HIV, HCV, harm reduction, vein care, nutrition, self-advocacy, first aid, overdose training, and media communications. Finally, this project hopes to engage with health care providers to create a network of allied support for addressing the issues that are identified and determining the most effective strategies to solve them.
Research
Rise Up Community Engagement Project
ANKORS is currently being funded for a project referred to as the "Rise-Up Community Engagement Project", which was initiated at the beginning of September. The project seeks to explore and understand the experience of people who use injection and/or inhalation drugs and/or who are HIV and/or Hep C positive and/or at risk of transmission in regards to accessing and receiving health care and social services in the West Kootenays.
"Lakeside Park"
The project coordinator has distributed a needs assessment and conducted 74 interviews in Nelson, Trail, Castlegar, Grand Forks, Kaslo, New Denver and Nakusp with anyone eligible and willing to participate. The project coordinator is in the midst of collating data and writing a paper on the findings. The results will provide the project coordinator as well as the general public with a better idea of the challenges people face and how people could be better supported within their community. A basic resource package and a brief issue paper, including the key findings from the collected and analyzed survey data will be distributed to relevant agencies and organizations.