Hand in Hand – IRIS Estrie

Perhaps you’ve come across our name, spotted our posters or stickers around town, but found yourself wondering: What exactly is IRIS Estrie? Located discreetly in an old house on Wellington... L’article Hand in Hand – IRIS Estrie est apparu en premier sur Sherbrooke Record .

Perhaps you’ve come across our name, spotted our posters or stickers around town, but found yourself wondering: What exactly is IRIS Estrie? Located discreetly in an old house on Wellington Street in Sherbrooke, our non-profit organization has been serving the wider Estrie region since 1988. Our primary focus has long been on promoting health and preventing sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), HIV, and, more recently, overdoses.

At IRIS Estrie, we’re committed to educating and supporting individuals within our community to reduce transmission risks and improve overall health outcomes through harm reduction efforts. Much of our work is directed towards marginalized communities, including the homeless population, whom we engage with through our weekly Café Social sessions every Thursday and Friday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. as well as our street outreach initiatives. Additionally, we hold monthly discussion nights tailored for transgender and non-binary people, providing a safe space for engagement, education, and support.

Moreover, we recently created, in collaboration with Aire ouverte , a new group destined to 2SLGBTQ+ youth aged from 15 to 25 years old, every second Thursday of the month. Throughout these various activities, our intervention team ensures that individuals have access to safe environments for drop-ins, assistance with processes, and participation in health promotion and prevention efforts. We’re also actively present on various dating apps, reaching out to the LGB community to provide safe sex materials, counseling, and referrals for STBBI screenings.

Furthermore, our collaboration with SIDEP nurses enables us to offer screenings directly at our facility for the populations we serve. Our organization also provides specialized support for sex workers, including on-site counseling services. Our expertise has gained recognition province-wide, with our CatWoman project having been implemented in 10 regions across Quebec.

Through this project, we conduct street work and outreach efforts targeting sex workers and their clients in diverse environments. Since 2020, we’ve been operating a crucial service: the Overdose Prevention Center. Building upon our existing work with drug users, which includes counseling and distributing safe drug use materials, we’ve established a supervised consumption site within our facility.

Operating from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, individuals can utilize our space for injection or snorting. Our trained staff are on hand to provide guidance and support, helping individuals develop safer habits. A new service has been added with the precious collaboration of Élixir ; drug checking.

With the use of a spectrometer and fentanyl testing strips, we can now analyse what’s in various substances, except cannabis, wax pen, mushrooms, LSD tabs and hormones. You can test your substances every Wednesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Finally, we are actively engaged in youth outreach, particularly given the rising STBBI rates among teenagers and young adults in Quebec.

Through partnerships with multiple high schools in the Townships, we conduct workshops aimed at promoting prevention and fostering safer sexual relationships. We encourage you to stay connected with us as we always strive to find more opportunities to support our communities! One of our goals is to provide additional moments for people to utilizing the public health-provided detection machine to test their drugs for content, thereby empowering individuals to make informed decisions.

Additionally, we’re excited to announce a new training course; Profan 2.0. Known throughout Quebec as the Narcan training, we are conducting the project in Estrie in French and in English. Overall, the training overview the prevention and how to react in overdose crisis, as well as how to take care of our communities after an overdose.

For more information contact udii@irisestrie.org . Join us as we work towards making a positive impact and celebrating diversity. Keep an eye out for updates and opportunities to get involved!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok, of course we are available by phone, the old-fashioned way! Please subscribe to read the Hand in Hand every week, published every Friday L’article Hand in Hand – IRIS Estrie est apparu en premier sur Sherbrooke Record .