unique clients served by Ottawa Mission walk in clinic in 2023
overdoses reversed in 2023 across all programs
shelter programs supporting
150 program beds
hospital diversions through
our TED program in 2023
unique clients seen in Trailer in 2023, with
54,564 visits for the year
supportive living units supporting
234 housing units
OICH is a nursing-led, non-profit healthcare organization that primarily serves individuals who are homeless, street-involved, and/or in supported living. We aim to provide individualized healthcare in a way that meets the populations we serve where they are at. This community we serve continue to be our biggest teacher and is instrumental in guiding us to provide the best care that we possibly can.
Through our variety of programs and services, we aim to comprehensively address complex health issues, and we pride ourselves on being flexible and adaptive to meet the needs of our community. While we were once mostly shelter-based, the push for housing-first movements has led us to offer more programs within supportive living units.
We are a learning and teaching organization, and we take on students across many disciplines. We believe in a healthcare system that works for everyone. We are committed to teaching future healthcare providers. We are constantly working towards health and social systems transformation and believe in a better future for those we serve.
At OICH, we offert peer support and aim to centre PWLE in all the programs and services we offer. In 2013, we began formally employing PWLE and we very quickly realized we could not continue to do the work we were doing without them. In 2017, the peer program expanded exponentially when we started experiencing severe drug poisonings in the shelter. We deployed a peer team who became our eyes and ears around the shelter and surrounding community. They worked tirelessly and heroically to save many lives and inform our practice as we struggled to support our community during a very difficult and unprecedented time. Later that year, we opened our supervised consumption site, The Trailer, which was rooted in peer support.
PWLE are integral to the work we do. They are the experts, and they greatly inform the work we do and the programs and services we offer. PWLE are a fundamental part of who we are, and their guidance and support have gotten us to where we are today. They are the true first responders to the toxic drug supply, and they contribute invaluable knowledge and insights. We want to acknowledge and honor everything that they bring to our community and this organization.
Centering PWUD and PWLE in harm reduction work:
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users https://vandu.org/
Canadian Association of People who use Drugs: https://www.capud.ca/
