A Maple Ridge resident who works in the trades will be sharing his story about his connection to the toxic drug crisis, along with international speaker known as the Skid-Row CEO, at this year’s Speaking Through the STORM.
The third annual event is free and taking place this Friday, Nov. 21, at The ACT Arts Centre, and is a TED-Talk inspired gathering.
Lee Newell has loss numerous friends to the toxic drug crisis, many of whom worked in the trades.
In a video for Stop Overdose Ridge Meadows, STORM, he highlighted four of his good friends who died from toxic drugs including brothers Shane Nielsen and Jesse Nielsen, Lance Shellington, and Scott Sim.
The video was part of a series posted by by STORM in advance of International Overdose Awareness Day in August.
In it he explained how he is a tradesman himself and amongst the tradesmen, that partying and doing drugs is common.
“Work hard, play harder,” he explained.
He said there is a lot of stigma and shame about drug use and that the friends whom he loss were fathers, sons, brothers, and overall good people.
Joe Roberts, also known as the Skid-Row CEO, is now a motivational speaker.
He will be sharing his history as a homeless, opiate addict, who was living on the streets of Vancouver before he turned his life around. He became the CEO of a major company and wanting to make a difference, he pushed a shopping cart for 17 months, across the entire width of North America.
Also speaking at the event will be Daniel Snyder who coordinates the Langley Community Action Team, a nonprofit organization addressing mental health and substance use challenges in B.C. through education, stigma reduction, and naloxone training.
“All three of our speakers are people with lived experience with substance use and will take part in answering questions in the panel portion of the evening, and will be joined by our Peer Coordinator Lindsey Hansen who shared her story at our event last year,” explained Jerrica Hackett with STORM, which has now become a non-profit organization.
Hackett explained that when the organization was founded, it was in response to the toxic drug crisis, and they worked hard to reduce stigma, increase compassion, provide education around substances and offer support by connecting people with many of the organizations in the region.
But they quickly grew to include weekly outreach efforts, monthly team meetings, and monthly leadership meetings. They also attend many events hosted by local community partners, in addition to hosting three major events each year including our STORM Show & Shine event supporting men’s mental health programs, the International Overdose Awareness Day event, as well as Speaking Through the STORM.
“As we’ve grown we’ve seen a need to access more funding and do our own fundraising to continue our work in the field of the toxic drug crisis- but also to expand our work to co-occurring needs. We’ve always operated under the portfolio of another non-profit, but in recognizing the need to grow we’ve decided to incorporate as our own non-profit organization,” said Hackett.
This will allow the organization to expand and support the community in a broader context, said Hackett, noting her background in corrections and her passion around supporting formerly incarcerated people, and helping people reintegrate safely into society, without being impacted by the toxic drug crisis.
The group would also like to focus on mental well being through connection for all community members.
Hackett is excited to be announcing the new name of the organization at Speaking Through the STORM.
For those who attend, there will be a grazing table prepared by AbracaShaba Focacceria, and drinks will be available for purchase at the bar.
It’s a great reason for people to get dressed up, enjoy some great food, and hear some inspirational and touching stories.
Speaking Through the STORM starts at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, at The ACT Arts Centre, 11944 Haney Place, Maple Ridge.
It is free to attend.
Tickets can be reserved at: https://arts-on.org/community-events/speaking-through-the-storm.
For more information about STORM go to: https://www.stopoverdoseridgemeadows.ca/.