Program connects homeless and addicted with those who've been there

A new program launched in Kamloops connects people who have been homeless or struggled with addiction in the past, with people who are now battling similar issues in a north end neighbourhood. 

Kamloops' North Shore neighbourhood is a mix of businesses and homes along with many social services providers.

Glen Hilke, the program coordinator for the new eight-week pilot project likens it to a lived experience version of a social outreach services program.

"We feel that people with lived experience are really well situated to be a first contact for the community that we've sometimes referred to as people who are street entrenched," said Hilke of the program, called the PEER Ambassadors Network project.

So far, 14 patrollers — dubbed ambassadors — have been recruited, wearing blue shirts and blue hats, to walk around the North Shore six days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. They help people on the streets access services that could help them, in addition to picking up garbage, including needles and syringes.

For some of the patrollers, it's the first time they have been employed in a while. 

"It's kind of nerve racking, but definitely fulfilling for people who are doing the actual work," Hilke told Daybreak Kamloops' Jenifer Norwell. "They feel really satisfied."

'Feet kicked out'

Dave Buchanan, one of workers with the new outreach program, says he comes from three generations of addiction and has struggled with it throughout his life.

"I just kept getting the feet kicked out from underneath me and I could never get anywhere. I was either homeless or suffering from PTSD from abuse from being homeless," said Buchanan, 55.

"It was just a constant struggle."

His experience with addiction and homelessness helps make him compassionate toward other people who are struggling, he said.

"It's really tough to try to do anything, so any kind of support or encouragement can help."

Project member Allen Primeau has previously lived on the streets in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto. 

"Doing this program, first aid and stuff, gives me a chance to interact with people and help them, and let them understand that there are people that will help them when we know that they're in need," he said.

Primeau and his fellow team members talk to people one-on-one and reassure them they are there to help and not turn them into the police, he said. 

"We're just here to help you, make sure you're surviving."

Understanding trauma

Jeremy Heighton, executive director of the North Shore Business Improvement Association, says the beauty of the program comes from the way people on the streets can relate to its members.

The southern Interior city already has a team of patrollers, the Customer Care and Patrol team, or CAP, made up primarily of summer students who patrol the downtown core, promoting tourism and safety wearing red shirts. However, patrollers in the new pilot project have a better understanding of the people they are helping on the streets, said Heighton. 

"They understand the trauma, they understand the challenges, they understand the process and they're able to give a different level of counselling to these individuals than our CAP (Customer Care and Patrol) team can for example," he said.

"So that's our goal, is to create a sense of connection that is deeper than just you know, showing up and moving people along, but rather saying how do we help you to rediscover your life."