Mobile outreach van in Brandon will help bring harm reduction services to people in need: advocates

As toxic drugs continue to cause preventable deaths in Manitoba, a new harm reduction van will aim to bring life-saving support directly to the streets of the province’s second-largest city.

The mobile harm reduction outreach service will be operated in Brandon by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, building on the experience it already has running a mobile crisis team in 32 First Nations, said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels. The difference in Brandon is that those services will now be offered in an urban centre.

People in First Nations and cities alike face many of the same pressures, with addictions and a housing crunch creating significant mental health needs, said Daniels.

"We need to cut off … the flow of people falling within those areas," he said, which means "strengthening our childre