Delta Community Action Team
Substance Use & Mental Health Resources
Safer Substance Use
Mobile Applications
Brave App (overdose detection app)
The Brave App will connect you to a caring supporter wherever and whenever you use drugs so that you don’t have to use alone.
A life-saving app designed to combat the opioid epidemic, developed in cooperation with British Columbia Emergency Health Services. The app is activated by the user before they use. After 50 seconds the app will sound an alarm. If the user doesn’t hit a button to stop the alarm after 75 seconds, a text-to-voice call will go straight to 9-1-1.
Fraser Health Overdose Outreach Team (OOT)
OOT supports adults 19 and over across Fraser Health who are housed, accessing the toxic drug supply, and want to access services that lower the chance of a toxic drug poisoning. They do not require people to change their substance use. Call or text 236-332-4857, or email oot@fraserhealth.ca.
Harm Reduction Online (Fraser Health)
Online marketplace for free harm reduction supplies such as naloxone kits and fentanyl testing strips, along with other information and resources.
Lookout Housing and Health Society Mobile Van
Lookout provides a range of low barrier, non-judgemental 24/7 support services to adults with low or no income facing a variety of challenges who have few, if any, housing or support options. Lookout Society’s Mobile Harm Reduction Outreach Teams deliver harm reduction supplies to groups, individuals and organizations throughout Langley, Aldergrove, Delta and White Rock. The goal is to build rapport with individuals, foster community partnerships and provide education for people who would not normally attend their services. Call 604-328-7610 seven days a week for Mobile Van Services.
Moving Forward Family Services
Moving Forward is a non-profit charity organization that offers free short-term and affordable long-term counselling options to folks across British Columbia. Their services are delivered by supervised students in social work and counselling programs across Canada in the final months of their education, as well as registered therapists willing to offer sliding scale services to low income clients. Counselling through the team is available in-person (if in the lower mainland of BC, minimal fees apply), and through online platforms and telephone.
National Overdose Response Service (NORS)
A toll-free overdose prevention hotline providing caring, confidential, non-judgemental support, whenever and wherever you may be using. Call or text 1-888-688-6677.
North Delta Public Health Unit
Provides a range of services to promote health and wellness in the community, including harm reduction supplies such as fentanyl test strips and safer injecting and smoking supplies.
Peace Point Overdose Prevention Site (Sources)
The Peace Point Overdose Prevention site offers a safe and welcoming environment while mitigating the risks of ingesting contaminated or toxic drugs. It provides overdose prevention education, take home naloxone training and distribution, onsite monitoring of people who are at risk of overdose, rapid detection of and response to overdose where necessary, harm reduction supply distribution and disposal options, facilitation of referrals to health services, including appropriate mental health and substance use services.
Pharmacies offering take home naloxone kits
Use the towardtheheart.com site finder tool to locate a participating pharmacy near you.
Resources for Safer Substance Use (Fraser Health)
A list of drug checking services, harm reduction supplies, overdose prevention sites, overdose outreach, remote witnessing options, drug alerts, South Asian specific resources, and other harm reduction resources in the Fraser Health region.
SafePoint (Lookout Housing and Health Society and Fraser Health)
An overdose prevention site offering witnessed consumption of unregulated substances, harm reduction supply distribution, safe sharps disposal, take home naloxone training, drug checking and referrals to health and social services.
Smoke Tent (Lookout Housing and Health Society)
This program provides a clean, safe environment where people can smoke substances under the supervision of trained staff without the risk of arrest for drug possession.
South Delta Public Health Unit
Provides a range of services to promote health and wellness in the community.
Toward the Heart (Part of the BC Centre for Disease Control)
Toward the Heart’s focus is on compassion, meeting substance users where they are at, and working together to reduce harm. Toward the Heart operates a harm reduction supply program and provides toxic drug alerts. You can also use the towardtheheart.com site finder tool to locate a pharmacy distributing naloxone near you.
Mental Health & Substance Use
Mental Health & Substance Use Support
Treatment Options
Quibble Creek Sobering and Assessment Centre
Quibble Creek Sobering and Assessment Centre Is a 24/7 client centered program that addresses the immediate need for a safe and supportive environment for individuals 16 years of age and older under the influence of alcohol/drugs to detox.
Opioid Treatment Access Line (Province of BC)
The Opioid Treatment Access Line makes it faster and easier to access life-saving medication that prevents withdrawal symptoms and reduces the risk of overdose, and to get connected to timely support. Substance users can call 1-833-804-8111 toll-free seven days a week from 9 am until 4 pm to speak with a healthcare worker who can prescribe an opioid treatment medication over the phone.
Alcohol and Drug Information and Referral Service
Provides free, 24/7 confidential, multilingual, information and referral regarding community resources for people dealing with substance use and addiction issues. Resource navigators provide information about detox, counselling, treatment programs, recovery homes, and support groups. Not a clinical service. Call 604-660-9382 or text 2-1-1.
Peak House is operated by Pacific Youth and Family Services Society. Located in Vancouver, Peak House is a provincial resource open to all youth in BC who need a more intensive level of service than can be provided in their home community. The program offers a ten-week, live-in treatment program for youth aged 13-18 years experiencing problems with drugs, including alcohol. The program includes individual and group counselling, life-skills training, fitness and social activities, assessment, relapse prevention, and aftercare planning. Elder visits for Indigenous connections are also available.
Options is a non-profit registered charity providing social services primarily in Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Langley. They operate over 80 programs and projects, including a Crisis Line and a Home-Based Addictions Support and Detox Program. They also operate a Mobile Outreach Team to help those living on the street or at-risk of homelessness find housing, health and income support services. To get in touch with the Mobile Outreach Team, call 604-765-6751 or email hylandoutreach@options.bc.ca.
Creekside Withdrawal Management Centre
The Creekside Withdrawal Management Centre supports adult individuals who require a medically supervised detox from substances. Services include 24-hour onsite medically supervised withdrawal support from alcohol/other drugs along with supportive counselling, substance use information, daily exercise and relaxation sessions, assessment, referrals to other services, and harm reduction. Creekside Withdrawal Management for Youth provides short-stay medically supported care for youth under the age of nineteen who are experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
Last Door Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment Program
Last Door offers comprehensive treatment for drug addiction, including medical detox, peer support, counselling, and aftercare support. Their residential programs are open only to males. They also offer services for their clients’ families and partners.
Options Home-Based Addictions Support and Detox Program
The addictions team provides support for those detoxing at home. Team members will visit daily to provide medical, emotional and social support for the person requiring support and their family, developing an individually tailored care plan. Following the detox period, clients and their families can continue working with their Addictions Counsellor and Outreach Worker for follow-up and on-going after-care.
The Phoenix Society offers a range of trauma-informed programs for participants at all stages of recovery, including treatment for youth and adults. Phoenix offers support while in the program, individualized planning for program completion and aftercare support upon completion or leaving the program.
Westminster House is a biopsychosocial bed-based addiction treatment centre for women. They also offer a youth program for young females. They offer a continuum of service including aftercare.
First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)
The FNHA plans, designs, manages and funds the delivery of First Nations health programs across BC, including a Mental Health, Substance Use and Harm Reduction Team. This team is focused on co-creating and improving programs, developing resources and decision support tools, and providing consultative support in the areas of mental health, substance use and harm reduction for health care professionals, community-based service providers and community members working with First Nations people and communities. Specific areas of focus include improving access to opioid use disorder treatment options such as Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT), supporting community OAT program development and supporting registered nurse prescribing initiatives. The team also provides provincial support for the FNHA’s harm reduction program by providing harm reduction education, support, bulk ordering of nasal Naloxone and harm reduction training. FNHA also operates a toll-free 24-hour First Nations and Aboriginal Crisis Line at 1-800-588-8717.
Mental Health & Support
Anxiety Canada’s mission is to reduce the barrier of anxiety and related disorders so people can live the life they want. They offer trusted resources and programs to help individuals find relief from anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, including the free Mindshift CBT App. An associated Community Forum enables users to find and offer peer-to-peer support.
The Centre for Addiction for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world's leading research centres in its field. CAMH’s mission is to provide the best mental health care, research, education and to foster social change.
Dan’s Legacy provides free trauma-informed and culturally sensitive counselling and life-skills intervention programs to youth affected by mental health and addictions issues. Staff go directly to the youth wherever they are, and have no waitlist.
Deltassist Family and Community Services Society
Deltassist is a non-profit organization dedicated to the well-being of the people of Delta. They offer counselling, workshops, events, senior support, outreach programs, and information services from locations in North and South Delta. They also offer free individual counselling and treatment referrals for youth and adults using substances, as well as for individuals affected by someone else’s substance use.
Delta North Mental Health and Substance Use Centre
Services available for adults 19 and older experiencing mild to moderate mental illness and substance use problems include assessment, treatment, individual and group therapy, referrals to supportive housing, long-term care programs and community support services, transition of care between services, older adult programs, crisis intervention and peer support.
Delta South Mental Health and Substance Use Centre
Mental Health and Substance Use Centres offer a range of self-referral services that provide support for people 19+ years of age who are experiencing mild to moderate mental illness and substance use problems. Services available include assessment, treatment, individual and group therapy, referrals to supportive housing, long-term care programs and community support services, transition of care between services, older adult programs, crisis intervention and peer support.
DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society
DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society offers a wide variety of culturally sensitive social support services. DIVERSEcity’s Substance Use Counselling program provides confidential counselling and education to substance-affected individuals living in the South Fraser region. Services are offered in Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi and English. DIVERSEcity also offers mental health counselling options for families and youth.
Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver (EFry)
EFry is a charitable organization that supports at risk women, girls and children involved in or affected by the justice system. They offer over two dozen programs to help break the cycle of poverty, substance use, mental illness, homelessness and crime.
Foundry is a province-wide network of integrated health and wellness services for young people aged 12 to 24. Their integrated five core services include mental health care, substance use services, physical and sexual health care, youth and family peer supports, and social services. Young people can access one of their https://foundrybc.ca/get-support/find-a-centre/centres, explore their online tools and resources, or connect virtually through the free Foundry BC app.
HereToHelp is a group of seven leading mental health and substance use non-profit agencies working together to help people find quality information, learn new skills, and connect with key resources in BC. Explore strategies to help you take care of your mental health and use substances in healthier ways, find the information you need to manage mental health and substance use problems, and learn how you can support a loved one.
Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre (BC Children's Hospital)
Kelty helps families across the province navigate the mental health system, connect with peer support, and access resources and tools to support well-being. Call 1-800-665-1822.
Lookout Housing and Health Society
Lookout provides a range of low barrier, non-judgemental 24/7 support services to adults with low or no income facing a variety of challenges who have few, if any, housing or support options. Lookout Society’s Mobile Harm Reduction Outreach Teams consist of outreach workers who deliver harm reduction supplies to groups, individuals and organizations throughout Langley, Aldergrove, Delta and White Rock. The goal is to build rapport with individuals, foster community partnerships and provide education with people who would not normally attend their services. Call 604-328-7610 seven days a week for Mobile Van Services.
The Maxxine Wright Community Health Centre
The Maxxine Wright Community Health Centre supports women who are pregnant or who have very young children at the time of intake who are impacted by substance use and/ or violence and abuse, including alcohol and drug counselling. Women do not need to have their children in their care to receive support provided there is an ongoing relationship with the child.
The Provincial Overdose Mobile Response Team was created with support from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions in recognition of the psychosocial impact of the overdose public health emergency on first responders, frontline workers and people with lived/living experience and their peers. The team offers psychosocial support, education, and training to organizations and agencies working within British Columbia’s overdose public health emergency. This includes people impacted by critical incidents such as overdoses and/or overdose deaths during their work.
Moving Forward Family Services
Moving Forward is a non-profit charity organization that offers a wide range of counselling, social work, and mental health services, including free short-term and affordable long-term counselling options to folks across BC. Their goal is to provide mental health services to those who slip through the cracks in our healthcare system. Low-income individuals, couples and families who cannot afford private therapy are welcome at Moving Forward Family Services. Services are delivered by supervised students in social work and counselling programs who are in the final months of their education, as well as registered therapists willing to offer sliding scale services to low-income clients.
Narcotics Anonymous is a non-profit, international, community-based organization for recovering addicts. NA’s primary approach to recovery is its belief in the therapeutic value of one addict helping another. Members take part in NA meetings by talking about their experiences and recovery from drug addiction, learning from one another how to live drug-free and recover from the effects of addiction. Recovery in NA focuses on the problem of addiction, not on any particular drug.
Pacific Community Resources Society (PCRS)
PCRS has been providing social services since 1984, encompassing education, employment, housing, substance use, mental health, and youth and family support services. Their Astra program provides counselling to youth ages 13 to 19 who wish to change their relationship with substances.
Options Home-Based Addictions Support and Detox Program
The addictions team provides support for those detoxing at home. Team members will visit daily to provide medical, emotional and social support for the person requiring support and their family, developing an individually tailored care plan. Following the detox period, clients and their families can continue working with their Addictions Counsellor and Outreach Worker for follow-up and on-going after-care.
Phoenix addresses the interconnection of substance use and the social determinants of health. Their programs and services include support to address, recover from or reduce harms from substance use as well as offering health care, housing and housing supports, community connection and inclusion programs and education and employment services.
Sources is a non-profit community agency offering a wide variety of programs and supports, including free, confidential substance use services. Substance use services provides individual and family counselling for those trying to deal with an alcohol or drug misuse problem, as well as for those impacted by a family member's substance misuse, including youth. Sources also operates the Peace Point Overdose Prevention Site.
Step Forward Health Society exists to promote mental health by providing individuals, couples and families access to mental health support through qualified mental health counselling and educational and group support programs. They work to reduce financial barriers that would otherwise prevent access to these important services. They also offer a variety of programs, educational opportunities and clinics to teach youth that are actively involved in sport transferable skills that can help them both on and off the field.
Crisis Lines
KUU-US First Nations and Aboriginal Crisis Line
KUU-US was originally founded to support First Nations individuals experiencing crisis in Nuu-Chah-Nulth territories. The First Nations Health Authority partnered with KUU-US to expand the line throughout the province. Crisis line operators listen and provide referrals to both cultural and western support systems and monitor at-risk individuals to help them get through crises. KUU-US services are available toll-free 24 hours a day. Help comes in various forms – from a listening, supportive ear, with an opportunity to problem solve, through to a risk assessment to determine the level of help that is needed or the opportunity to have a worker or band member sit with the individual in person if that is wanted. Call 1-800-588-8717.
The Crisis Line provides immediate, free, and confidential emotional support, crisis intervention and community resource information to people of all ages, 24 hours a day – everyday. Call 1-877-820-7444.
Toll-free number connecting callers to a no wait, no busy signal crisis line operated by the Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia. Offers a wide range of supports related to mental health including emotional support and referrals. Call 310-6789 (no area code).
1-800-Suicide (Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia)
A confidential, 24-hour toll-free crisis line for people who are feeling suicidal, are concerned for someone who might be suicidal, or are in need of emotional support. Crisis line workers provide intervention through emergency mental health teams or other emergency services, and may make referrals. Call 1-800-784-2433.
9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline
9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline is there to support anyone in need, no matter who they are or where they are in Canada. The service is co-delivered by a network of nearly 40 local, provincial and territorial, and national crisis lines. Call or text 9-8-8, or visit 988.ca to reach a trained responder.
Indiginous Specific Resources
Mental Health & Substance Use Support
Aboriginal Supported Child Development (Reach Child and Youth Development Society)
The Aboriginal Supported Child Development Program (ASCD) is a provincially funded program designed to meet the needs of Indigenous children who require additional support. ASCD programs are developed with cultural values, beliefs, and traditions in mind. ASCD serves children from birth to 12 years of age, (up to age 19 in special circumstances), who require extra support and are, or will be, attending a childcare setting.
First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)
The FNHA plans, designs, manages and funds the delivery of First Nations health programs across BC, including a Mental Health, Substance Use and Harm Reduction Team. This team is focused on co-creating and improving programs, developing resources and decision support tools, and providing consultative support in the areas of mental health, substance use and harm reduction for health care professionals, community-based service providers and community members working with First Nations people and communities. Specific areas of focus include improving access to opioid use disorder treatment options such as Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT), supporting community OAT program development and supporting registered nurse prescribing initiatives. The team also provides provincial support for the FNHA’s harm reduction program by providing harm reduction education, support, bulk ordering of nasal Naloxone and harm reduction training. FNHA also operates a toll-free 24-hour First Nations and Aboriginal Crisis Line at 1-800-588-8717.
Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association
The Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association (FRAFCA)’s mission is to foster the health and well-being of urban Indigenous people in the Fraser Salish Region by providing culturally relevant services, support, and advocacy. They honor the diverse lived experiences of Indigenous people from nations across Turtle Island and work to bridge the best of both Western and Traditional knowledge to provide a place of support, healing, and advocacy. The FRAFCA’s Indigenous Addictions Specialist program holds a traditional and cultural foundation to assist in overcoming addictions in a safe and non-judgmental environment, providing opportunity for growth while also reconnecting to culture and community.
Indigenous Child & Youth Mental Health Services (CYMH)
CYMH offers free mental health and wellness services for Indigenous children, youth and their families. They strive to offer services that are respectful of Indigenous culture and traditions as well as respecting traditional healing.
Indigenous Health Liaisons (Fraser Health)
Indigenous health liaisons are a key part of care teams, providing cultural support, advocacy and health information to Indigenous clients and their families in hospital and community settings. The liaisons also connect with other health care professionals and service providers to promote and advocate for culturally appropriate and timely care. Call 1-866-766-6960 to contact a liaison.
Provides culturally appropriate information, advice, support and representation to address the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system across BC. Free legal services are available for family and criminal court cases to Indigenous peoples who live in rural and remote communities, and for clients in other legal proceedings which might lead to imprisonment or a child in need of protection. There is a Surrey Indigenous Justice Centre, and a Virtual Indigenous Justice Centre that serves the province.
Indigenous Mental Health Liaisons (Fraser Health)
Indigenous Mental Health Liaisons provide invaluable support and services to Fraser Health’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit clients and family members, including assessment, referral, counselling support services, advocacy and mental health education. They help patients understand and navigate the health care system and ensure Indigenous patients receive culturally safe, appropriate, and timely care whether in hospital or community. Call the toll- free Indigenous Health Liaison line at 1-866-766-6960.
Indigenous Primary Health and Wellness Clinic
Provides team-based, interdisciplinary and holistic care, including cultural advisors and traditional healing options. The clinic is located in the Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre. It provides services to the Tsawwassen, Katzie and Kwikwetlem First Nations, and to the Spirit of the Children Society.
Kekinow Native Housing Society
Kekinow Native Housing Society is a non-profit organization that provides subsidized, affordable, safe, long-term rental accommodation for people of Indigenous ancestry. Kekinow’s values reflect the traditional culture of diverse Indigenous ancestry. They honor Indigenous cultures by fostering the physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual elements of human life.
KUU-US First Nations and Aboriginal Crisis Line
KUU-US was originally founded to support First Nations individuals experiencing crisis in Nuu-Chah-Nulth territories. The First Nations Health Authority partnered with KUU-US to expand the line throughout the province. Crisis line operators listen and provide referrals to both cultural and western support systems and monitor at-risk individuals to help them get through crises. KUU-US services are available toll-free 24 hours a day. Help comes in various forms – from a listening, supportive ear, with an opportunity to problem solve, through to a risk assessment to determine the level of help that is needed or the opportunity to have a worker or band member sit with the individual in person if that is wanted. Call 1-800-588-8717.
Tsawwassen First Nations (TFN)
The Tsawwassen First Nations provides numerous programs and services to improve the quality of life for TFN members, including health and social services such as a Family Empowerment Program, an Elders Program, a Community Nurse, and Counselling Services.
South Asian Specific Resources
DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society
DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society offers a wide variety of culturally sensitive social support services, including substance use counselling, in a number of languages, including Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. They offer mental health counselling options for families and youth, as well as a drop-in group for migrant workers.
Lifeguard App (Punjabi language version)
A life-saving free app designed to combat the opioid epidemic, developed in cooperation with British Columbia Emergency Health Services. The app is activated by the user before they use. After 50 seconds the app will sound an alarm. If the user doesn’t hit a button to stop the alarm after 75 seconds, a text-to-voice call will go straight to 9-1-1. Lifeguard can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play in the English, French or Punjabi languages.
Moving Forward Family Services
Moving Forward offers free and low-cost counselling options to people across BC, with a focus on supporting under-served communities. They offer coaching in life skills, relationships, substance use challenges and parenting, as well as counselling for trauma, stress, anger, substance abuse, grief, loss, depression, anxiety and more. Moving Forward also hosts virtual and in-person workshops and support groups in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Bengali, including support groups for addiction.
Path to Freedom
Path to Freedom is a comprehensive 90-day live-in addiction treatment program in Surrey that offers culturally tailored supports to men from multicultural backgrounds. The staff speak Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu as well as English, and the program provides individual/group therapy, peer assessment, family counselling, and aftercare planning to help people reintegrate into the community. There is an option for extended care.
Roshni Clinic
Roshni Clinic is a supportive adult (19 years and older) program for men and women of the South Asian community struggling with physical and mental health issues associated with alcohol and drug use. Services are provided in English, Punjabi and Hindi, and are delivered from a holistic, patient-centred approach, with a strong focus on the cultural context and issues specific to members of the South Asian community. Services include intake and assessment; ongoing treatment; one-time consultations for family doctors; medical management of second stage withdrawal symptoms and substance use, including methadone, suboxone and other medications; one-to-one counselling; psychosocial educational groups; education and support for families, referrals to other programs, and telehealth appointments by phone or computer for select patients. The Clinic is located at the Creekside Withdrawal Management Centre.
South Asian Community Hub
South Asian Community Hub (SACH) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster the health and well-being of underserved diverse communities living in BC by providing low-barrier services, counselling, and advocacy through a South Asian perspective in multiple languages. SACH offers wrap-around services for individuals and families facing significant challenges related to substance use, mental health, and socioeconomic factors and are underserved by the existing healthcare system, including harm reduction and treatment services.
South Asian Health Institute (Fraser Health)
South Asian Health Institute (SAHI) seeks to empower and engage South Asian communities in Fraser Health to achieve better health and wellness. SAHI aims to better understand and address South Asian specific health needs through transformative partnerships and collaboration between Fraser Health and South Asian communities. They develop and support culturally relevant health promotion initiatives for both existing and emerging health needs for South Asian communities, including toxic drug crisis resources in multiple languages.
Connecting People with Lived
and Living Experience
International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD)
INPUD is a global, peer-based organization that seeks to promote the health and defend the human rights of people who drugs by challenging and exposing stigma, discrimination and the negative impacts of criminalization on peers and communities. They advocate for substance users at community, regional and national levels.
Surrey Union of Drug Users (SUDU)
The Surrey Union of Drug Users (SUDU) is a social movement group of individuals in Surrey who have used or are currently using drugs. SUDO’s mission is to provide support, resources, and education to drug users in the community.
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
VANDU is a group of users and former users who work to improve the lives of people who use drugs through user-based peer support and education. VANDU is committed to increasing the capacity of people who use drugs to live healthy, productive lives. VANDU is also committed to ensuring that drug users have a real voice in their community and in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them.
Resources for Families and Loved Ones
A Family Guide to Concurrent Disorders (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health)
A person who has a mental health disorder is almost three times more likely to have a substance use disorder at some time in his or her life than is a person who does not have a mental health disorder. This four-part guide covers concurrent disorders such as substance use and mental health issues, the impact on families, treatment, and recovery. It provides a good overall understanding of key ideas and of the challenges and opportunities that are part of dealing with a family member who has concurrent disorders.
Families for Addiction Recovery is a national charity founded by parents of children who have struggled with addiction from their teens. They offer parent-to-parent support for families struggling with addiction including online support groups, and provide public education about addiction, health laws and drug policies. Their goal is long term recovery for those with addiction and their families.
FamilySmart provides information, resources, navigation assistance, and support to families or caring adults of children, youth, or young adults with mental health and/or substance use challenges.
From Grief to Action (FGTA) is a volunteer-based non-profit association working to improve the lives of young people with substance use disorders and those of their families and friends. FGTA promotes recognition of drug addiction as a health issue and supports a comprehensive continuum of care including harm reduction, treatment, and recovery, in order that they may achieve and maintain healthy, productive lives. Their self-help group, Parents Forever, offers ongoing support to parents and family members. FGTA also publishes educational materials such as their Coping Kit: Dealing with Addiction in Your Family.
Gone Too Soon - Navigating grief and loss as a result of substance use (BC Centre on Substance Use)
This handbook, developed in collaboration with the BC Bereavement Helpline and the Affected Persons Liaison with the BC Coroners Service, was written for people suffering the death of a loved one due to substance use.
https://www.bccsu.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Grief_Handbook.pdf
Helping Someone with a Drug Addiction (HelpGuide.org)
While you can’t force someone to tackle their substance use, your love, support, and patience can play a vital part in their recovery. This online guide helps family members understand problem substance use, recognize the signs, talk to their family member, set healthy boundaries, practice self-care, and support a loved one in their recovery.
A network of Canadian families impacted by substance-use-related harms and deaths. Moms Stop the Harm challenges laws and policies that cause harm, including those laws that continue to drive the unregulated drug poisoning emergency in Canada, and call for an end to the failed war on drugs through evidence-based prevention, treatment and policy change. They also offer free grief support groups for those who have lost a loved one to substance use.
Resources for Talking to Youth about Substance Use
This information kit from Fraser Health includes practical pointers, a how to talk to your kids video, a seven talking tips graphic and other information and resources.
Community Action in BC
Community Action Initiative (CAI)
CAI believes community-based agencies are essential partners in addressing mental health and substance use in BC. Their mission is to strengthen the role and capacity of the community sector to improve mental health and address substance use for British Columbians.