ManitobaThe Southern Chiefs’ Organization is launching a harm reduction outreach van in Brandon, in partnership with the city. The aim to provide low-barrier support for issues like addictions and mental health by going directly to the people who need it.Southern Chiefs’ Organization will operate outreach service in Manitoba’s 2nd-biggest cityChelsea Kemp · CBC News · Posted: Dec 11, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Kat Salmon, who works with the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network peer group, says she’s lost too many friends to overdose deaths. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)As toxic drugs continue to cause preventable deaths in Manitoba, a new harm reduction van will aim to bring life-saving support directly to the streets of the province’s second-largest city.The mobile harm reduction outreach service will be operated in Brandon by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, building on the experience it already has running a mobile crisis team in 32 First Nations, said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels. The difference in Brandon is that those services will now be offered in an urban centre.People in First Nations and cities alike face many of the same pressures, with addictions and a housing crunch creating significant mental health needs, said Daniels.”We need to cut off … the flow of people falling within those areas,” he said, which means “strengthening our children and arming them with tools,” along with supporting families.The pilot project, funded with $435,540 from Health Canada secured by the city, is expected to launch early in the new year. Non-profits and substance users say the service is long overdue, often because the people most at risk can’t, or won’t, visit fixed-site services. Southern Chiefs’ Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels says the outreach van is expected to start rolling in the new year. (Gary Solilak/CBC)They say by going to encampments, back lanes and areas across the city of roughly 54,000, the van will reach people who have been missed and keep more of them alive.Kat Salmon, who works with the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network peer group, says she hopes the van will help people who are disconnected from agencies or living in more remote pockets of the city. She says she��’s already lost too many friends to overdoses.”I’ve never been able to finish grieving on one person before … it’s another one.”Speed is critical when someone is overdosing, she said.”I’ve had to jump off my bike and go flying halfway across the city,” she said. “You never know if you’re going to make it.”She hopes the van will become trusted as outreach grows.Van will help build relationships: advocateTalix Cross, also part of the peer group, hands out harm-reduction kits and checks in on people. Dropping temperatures make that work even more urgent, Cross said. “People die in winter here without drugs being a part of their lives,” Cross said, adding people shouldn’t have to walk long distances to get help.Talix Cross says the new outreach van will be important to help people safe as temperatures drop. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)Cross cautions building relationships takes time, but she believes the van will help people buy in. “If they know someone and love someone that’s been hurt by this,” she said, “they would think about the one person … that had a problem that destroyed their lives.”Solange Machado, the Brandon senior network co-ordinator with the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network, says low-barrier access is essential. “Being able to have a van that can meet people where they’re at … will definitely open up access,” she said. Last December, Brandon police warned the city was seeing a spike in overdoses. Machado said that’s because illicit drugs are becoming more dangerous — they can be more potent than expected, or may not be the substance the user thought they were taking.The Manitoba Harm Reduction Network’s Solange Machado says all areas of the city need access to harm reduction services to keep people safe. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)Overdoses spiked in 2020 and the numbers haven’t dropped significantly since, she said, adding that since 2021, more than 400 Manitobans have died from overdoses annually.In a smaller city, each loss hits hard, Machado said.”It really affects the whole community every time there is another loss.”She sees the van as a source of hope, especially with the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, an Indigenous-led body, operating it. It also has the potential to extend service hours into evenings, filling a major gap in Brandon’s current system, she said.It’s significant that the van will be able to reach people beyond the city’s downtown, since there are people with harm-reduction needs across Brandon, said Machado.Shannon Saltarelli, the City of Brandon’s community housing and wellness co-ordinator, says the SCO brings deep experience in crisis work and outreach. Harm reduction extends beyond drug use, and includes supporting people facing homelessness, food insecurity or exploitation, she said, and the van will help agencies co-ordinate and check on vulnerable people.Shannon Saltarelli, the City of Brandon’s community housing and wellness co-ordinator, says the new harm reduction van will help reach people who need help. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)”There’s just this element of humanity that needs to be addressed when people are in vulnerable states,” Saltarelli said.The outreach pilot project will run until next October, with hopes that strong results will secure further funding.Daniels says unique challenges exist in Brandon, but the city has strong resources the unit will connect with. The Southern Chiefs’ Organization expects to begin with two staff per shift, building to a larger team as needed, supported by a crisis line and flexible hours. Success will be measured through lived experiences and community change, said Daniels.”We need everybody on board.… We just got to continue to strengthen each other and make the community a good place to live.”WATCH | Mobile harm reduction van coming to Brandon:Mobile harm reduction van coming to BrandonThe Southern Chiefs’ Organization is partnering with the City of Brandon to launch a harm reduction outreach van in the new year, aiming to provide low-barrier support for issues like addictions and mental health by going directly to the people who need it.ABOUT THE AUTHORChelsea Kemp is a multimedia journalist with CBC Manitoba. She is based in CBC’s bureau in Brandon, covering stories focused on rural Manitoba. Share your story ideas, tips and feedback with chelsea.kemp@cbc.ca.
Mobile outreach van in Brandon will help bring harm reduction services to people in need: advocates
