Heart of the City: Travis Lupick sheds light on the history of harm reduction in the Downtown Eastside

Former Ga Straight staff members author Travis Lupick is just one of the primary chroniclers of the city’s harm-reduction motion.

He not only did this by way of in his several article content, but also in Combating for House: How a Group of Drug Customers Transformed A single City’s Wrestle With Addiction. 

In this award-winning 2017 reserve, he paid out particular notice to the efforts of Downtown Eastside residents to inject some popular feeling into general public debates on this issue.

Lupick recently spoke at the Heart of the Metropolis Pageant by means of a video website link from California, the place he’s now residing.

In his PowerPoint presentation, he explained how a nurse named Liz Evans answered a occupation advert to supply psychological-wellness products and services to 10 tenants at the Rainbow Resort at the corner of Hastings and Columbia streets.

She started out getting in a lot more tenants, escalating the quantity to 70.

In accordance to Lupick, Evans advised them that this was their property. This is exactly where they stay. And they wouldn’t be evicted even if they overdosed or had psychological-wellness issues.

It was a innovative idea.

“When she removed that pressure, expressing ‘you live here now’, people did fairly nicely,” Lupick explained.

Evans was joined by Mark Townsend and they went on to variety the Portland Resort Culture. 

Lupick’s book also targeted a good offer of consideration on damage-reduction champions Ann Livingston and Bud Osborne, who are also coated in the PowerPoint presentation.

Examine out Lupick’s talk in the video down below, as perfectly as some fascinating images from the previous, setting up at 3:30.