Important Notice
Please be informed that as of April 1st, 2023, Fife House is no longer the host agency for OHRN (Ontario Harm Reduction Network). This decision was made after extensive consultations with the Ministry of Health and other partner organizations in the sector. The strong foundation of work previously led by OHRN will be re-envisioned under the umbrella of CATIE, a leader in knowledge exchange for HIV, hepatitis C and harm reduction. For more information about CATIE and this transition, please refer to this announcement on the CATIE website: https://www.catie.ca/catie-is-expanding-learning-and-practice-for-harm-reduction-workers-in-ontario
Fife House joins CATIE in thanking all OHRN staff and TON (The Outreach Network) members, past and present, for their important work and contributions to the sector.
Mission
To enhance the capacity of service providers and organizations to effectively serve people who use drugs by providing training, education and networking opportunities.
Vision
People who use drugs are treated with dignity and respect, free of judgment, and receive effective care and support when accessing services across Ontario.
Values
- Including people who use drugs in the development and delivery of all of our work;
- Cultivating an atmosphere of learning and sharing, and opportunities for networking;
- Providing quality training and education about harm reduction to build the knowledge and skills of individual service providers and whole organizations;
- Reducing individual, organizational and structural stigma and barriers to care.
During 2019-2020, OHRN developed a ‘Trans Awareness’ webinar series, which is available on OHNR’s website at www.ohrn.org.
OHRN hosted an in-person symposium of harm reduction workers. This two-day event included discussions and workshops on:
- Loss and grief;
- Drug checking;
- The Chief Coroner of Ontario presenting on opioid mortality deaths;
- Involving people who sell drugs in harm reduction interventions;
- Herbal supports for self-care.
Shortly after, in partnership with South West Public Health Unit, OHRN facilitated a ‘harm reduction learning and networking event’ in Oxford County, bringing together 90 local health and social service providers, including police. Throughout the year we continued to hold online meetings for The Outreach Network – a network of over 100 frontline harm reduction workers and their program managers, embedded in 53 organizations across Ontario. In early 2020, we worked with eigh drug culture experts in the development and delivery of a webinar: “Engaging People Who Use Drugs to Build Organizational Capacity”. Our online learning and in-person events reached over
Please visit www.ohrn.org to learn more about our work, see what resources and supports we can provide, and to connect with us.
The OHRN Team: Nick Boyce and Kim Trenchard.
Ontario Harm Reduction Network
490 Sherbourne Street, 2nd Floor
Toronto, Ontario M4X 1K9
T: 416.703.7348
T. 1.866.591.0347
