Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jul 2016
Source: Now, The (Surrey, CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact:  http://www.thenownewspaper.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462
Author: Amy Reid

SURREY'S 'RIG DIG' NEEDLE CLEANUP PROGRAM IN CRISIS

WHALLEY - A program responsible for the cleanup of hundreds of used
needles a day in Surrey might see its end in September due to funding
cuts.

As the Now reported last week, the Downtown Surrey BIA is calling for
expansion of the needle program due to used syringes becoming an
"ever-growing concern" in the area over the past two years.

Lookout Emergency Aid Society's provincial gaming grant is not being
renewed and as a result, their peer-lead 'Rig Dig' needle recovery
program is in crisis.

This loss is coupled with a $15,000 per year funding reduction for
peer programming from the Fraser Health Authority, according to Lookout.

Lookout reports it collected nearly 600,000 used needles from Surrey
streets in 2015.

On Saturday, Fraser Health and the Surrey RCMP issued a public warning
following 20 known drug overdoses in 24 hours. The count has since
increased to 43. None were fatal.

"Rig Dig is such an essential community service - but without the
recent emergency grant from the Surrey Homelessness and Housing
Society to sustain operations in the first quarter (of our fiscal
year), Rig Dig would have already ended," said Shayne Williams,
Lookout's executive director (pictured).

"We project that we will be forced to end in mid-September unless we
can solidify new funding. We are disappointed because there is such a
pressing need to expand the program."

A recent Downtown Surrey BIA (DSBIA) report, titled Addressing
Discarded Needles in Downtown Surrey, calls for expansion of the "Rig
Dig" program. The report states that calls to the service often go
unanswered.

Since April, Lookout has reduced operations of the needle program to
60 per cent of the previous year's level of service.

Even with the reduced service, Lookout has spent $8,190 on Rig Dig
honorarium alone, in just three-and-a-half months.

And while Lookout previously had more than $50,000 of funding for Rig
Dig, it only has $8,400 a year going forward (provided by Fraser
Health). Even so, that funding is a combined fund for honorariums,
health fairs and the Rig Dig program.

"They (needles) are everywhere. It's scary. It would be like walking
on eggshells if we weren't here," said Donna Wheeler, a former addict
who now volunteers with the needle recovery program.

Lookout is now scrambling to find funders to help keep Rig Dig
running.

Click here for more information on the Lookout Society.

http://lookoutsociety.ca/
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MAP posted-by: Matt