Parkdale overdose prevention tents shut down as unused trailer sits nearby

An unsanctioned overdose prevention site operating out of tents in a small park in Parkdaleispermanently shutting down Wednesday night, as harm reduction workers anxiously wait for the Ford government to make up its mind about whetherto allow sites like it to keep operating.

Just about a 10-minutewalk awaysits a brand new overdose prevention site in a trailer. Though it's been sitting there since August, nobody has ever had a chance to use it.

It's a thought that fills Steph Massey with rage.

"There is a fully-stocked trailer that is having rent paid on it as we speak that is not being used," she told CBC. "These resources could be saving lives."

Massey is a harm reduction coordinator at the Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre and volunteer coordinator at the unsanctioned Parkdale site.

The trailer, set up behind the health centre where she works, was set to open as a provincially-sanctioned overdose prevention site in late August.

Then came a last-minutedecision by the provincial government to review overdose prevention sites and pause the opening of three previously-funded sites around the province, including the one in Parkdale.

"That same weekend, the police announced there had been overdose fatalities that week," remembered Massey.

Harsh weather makes tents unsustainable

She and other volunteers sprang into action, setting up tents in the Dunn Avenue Parkette to provide a safe, monitored place for drug users.

Since then, the number of people coming to use the site's services has been "picking up every week," said Massey.

But the arrival of the wind, rain and chill of fall hasmade operating out of tents harder and harder, leading to the difficult decision to shut down the site.

"The final straw was when the tent flipped over in the parkette and endangered people," she said.

The site's closingis resonating with staff at other Toronto harm reduction sites.

Jen Ko, who coordinates the Moss Park overdose prevention site, described the province's decision and subsequent silence on the future of the sites as "disheartening and frustrating."

Moss Park remains open

Moss Park, which was already operatingat the time of the decision, remains openalong with eight other sites around the province.

After nine months of toughing it out in a tent of their own, the Moss Park site moved indoors this past June.

"Having a bathroom is a miracle," said Ko.

Ko reiterated arguments that experts and politicianslikeMayor John Tory and federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor have already made: research shows overdose prevention sites save livesand are part of a long-term solution to the opioid crisis.

It's a crisis she says is showing no signs of abating.

"We are on track [in Ontario] to lose as many people as we did in 2017," said Ko.

Still unknown is when the Ford government will make itsfinal decision on the future of overdose prevention sites. For Moss Park, the only sure bet is funding until Christmas Eve of this year.

"We don't know really what will happen in the next few weeks, let alone up until that time and then beyond that time," said Ko.

Parkdaleteam regroups

Massey saystalks are continuing to find ways for the work of the Dunn Avenue Parkettesite to continue.

Later this week, she said, they'll host aclosed town hall that will provide volunteers and people who use the serviceswith a chance to share their thoughts.

Among the options being discussed arepop-up overdose prevention sitesand educational campaigns.

"We're looking at different models," said Massey. "It would have to be indoors. And we have no money."