NEWSLETTER - Canadian Harm Reduction Network

you. This experience is telling me, ‘You’re good enough to do this!’ and it’s giving me theconfidence to face my own dragons.”For the professors involved…the course is a two-way learning street. Dr. Susanna Egan…didn’tknow what to expect…[and]…had just begun her lesson on autobiographical writing byexplaining the craft’s roots in the 5 th century theological treatises of Saint Augustine when astudent exclaimed: “Doesn’t he just take your breath away? The City of God just leaps off thepage, doesn’t it?” Egan was speechless…. “Many of these students are deeply educated withouthaving gone to school,” she says. “They have been educated by the lives they lead.”…Of the 25 students who start the course each September, about 20 usually graduate. “That’samazing considering the pressures…Some of these people are very ill or live under horriblesocial and economic conditions – and yet they show up.”…”Humanities 101 started a chain reaction: I woke up and changed myself…Thelearning…doesn’t stop when you walk out of the classroom.”The Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force is an alliance of individuals and agency representativesworking together to reduce the harms associated with drug use in Toronto. We welcome and value yourinput and feedback, and invite you to become a member. Please feel free to contact us on any matterrelated to harm reduction or if you would like additional copies of this newsletter. We can be reachedat 647-222-420 or at torontoharmreduction@lycos.com or by regular mail: 100 Lombard St., Ste. 205,Toronto, M5C 1M3.Membership ApplicationIndividual [ ] Organization [ ]Name/Name of Organization:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________mailing address_____________________________ ________________________ __________________________telephone fax emailMembers are entitled to vote at meetings of the Task Force, including Annual General Meetings.Organizational members are entitled to only one vote.My signature below indicates that I/we agree to subscribe to the objectives and of the Toronto HarmReduction Task Force.Name:_______________________________Signature:____________________________Date:______________PLEASE FAX completed form to: 416-364-7815Peer Job Opportunity!The Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force has received a grant from the City of Toronto, DrugPrevention program to facilitate the development of a Peer Network in Toronto. This is thelogical “next step” following the successful launch of the “Manual for Peers and Agencies” (seeabove). As part of this project, we will hire a part-time (approximately 15 hours/week)coordinator to do outreach to community members (users/ex-users, peer workers) who areinterested in helping to found a coalition for peer workers. In consultation with the projectcoordinator, the peer network coordinator will be responsible for facilitating and recordingmeetings, developing and administering evaluation tools, and other tasks as determined bythe emerging network. Qualifications include good communication and “people” skills, awillingness to provide and accept constructive feedback, the ability to relate to peer workersToronto Harm Reduction Task Forcewww.torontoharmreduction.org