Reducing Harms
Despite a declaration of a public health emergency in 2016, over 11,000 people have died from the toxic drug poisoning crisis in BC alone – averaging six deaths per day – deaths that were, and are, preventable.
We’re raising funds to advance concrete soutions to the toxic drug poisioning crisis. Gifts to the Reducing Harms Priority will support projects that address putting an end to the toxic drug poisioning crisis in BC, and that save lives.
Our Harm Reduction Program supports peers working in community, harm reduction strategies, overdose response programs and priorities, and public education and advocacy around stigma, substance use, and evidence-based solutions.
A gift to this program will be directed to the most pressing solution as indicated by our harm reduction experts in community.
Addressing Threats
The COVID-19 pandemic has had vast and lasting impacts on us all and has greatly exacerbated existing inequities for those already made vulnerable due to systemic barriers. It has shown us where we need to provide better, stronger public health solutions.
We’re raising funds to support pandemic recovery in BC, address the societal consequences of the pandemic, and protect everyone in BC as we begin to live safely and thoughtfully with the current state.
Our campaign Your Health, Our Commitment is about supporting pandemic recovery, stenghening BC’s public health system, mobilizing public health research findings, and identifying and delivering long-term solutions to address systemic inequities.
A gift to this campaign will be directed to the most pressing solution as indicated by our public health experts in BC.
Promoting Health
Those who are incarcerated in BC experience considerable and frequent movement in and out of BC Provincial Correctional Centres, resulting in gaps in continuity of care for people living with a chronic health condition such as hepatitis C infection (HCV).
Test, Link, Call (TLC) is a program led by the BCCDC and other partners to increase access to, and uptake of, care and treatment for HCV among people who experience criminalization, including people who are incarcerated or recently released from incarceration, people who use drugs, and people who are homeless or unstably housed.
Program participants are provided a cell phone with an unlimited calling/texting plan for six months on the day they are released, along with a Peer Mentor to provide ongoing support. A preliminary evaluation of the first-year pilot of TLC has found that it is highly acceptable and results in increased convenience, motivation, and uptake of HCV treatment, as well as increased social connection.
We’re raising funds for Test, Link, Call to ensure that the program is equipped to continue to support people living with HCV, to increase linkage to care and HCV treatment uptake, and to help aid in successful re-integration back to the community.
Driving Innovation
Our Driving Innovation Fund provides flexible and broad funding for growth,
innovation, and development of new ideas and initiatives. It supports the awareness-raising and public education of what public health really is, how it’s important to you and your loved ones, and provides general support for all areas of public health.
By supporting the Driving Innovation Fund, we can direct your gift to the area of greatest need.
If you want to learn more about our priorities, campaigns, and projects, please contact us at (604) 707–2490
What We Have Funded
See examples of the public health work, innovations, and solutions that we’ve funded in the past.
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We acknowledge and show gratitude that we are able to work, live, and play on the traditional and unceded lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lo and SəÌílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations, and that our work humbly extends to all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people across what we call British Columbia. We make our commitment to continue on our path of learning and reconciliation and where welcomed to do so, to work with communities to support undoing inequities that have harmed and continue to harm Indigenous people across the stolen and colonized lands of Turtle Island, or what we now call Canada.