Harm reduction and recovery advocate speaks in Port Alberni

Ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31, the Port Alberni Community Action Team hosted advocate Guy Felicella to speak to community members who are concerned about the toxic drug crisis.

Community Action Team co-chair Nina Kossenko-Holm said having someone with lived experience speaking to the community is important to open the door to education on the crisis and helps people who are currently in addiction get out of it.

"(People with addictions) are more likely to listen to somebody that understands us as opposed to somebody that's trying to tell us what to do with no idea what's actually happening," she said. Kossenko-Holm has been sober for more than a decade and is now a peer support worker with Island Health. "We want these conversations to become normal."

Felicell