End the Stigma
About the Share Your Story Initiative
On August 31, the City of Delta launched its Share Your Story initiative as part of International Overdose Awareness Day. There is power in opening up and telling your story. We are inviting you to use the power of storytelling to share your experiences with substance use, harm reduction supports, treatments, and recovery. You can submit and read the stories below..
This is a collaborative effort of the City of Delta, Delta Police Department, Delta School District, Fraser Health Authority, and Tsawwassen First Nation. The Share Your Story campaign aims to reduce stigma around substance use and empower individuals to share their stories. The campaign builds on the End the Stigma campaign which was launched in 2020 as a series of bus-stop posters to combat stigma around drug use and promote community supports and resources available in Delta. The Share Your Story initiative includes the following:
- Videos: a series of short video interviews, filmed at City Hall, with Guy Felicella, a community advocate who tells a story of his lived experience of using drugs. On 2021 International Overdose Awareness Day, Delta launched a new platform for community members to share stories of drug use and a road to recovery, remember those lost to overdoses, and raise awareness about harm reductions supports available to people in Delta.
- Social media campaign: a series of social media posts were launched on August 31, 2021 to raise awareness about harm reduction supports available in Delta and promote the Share Your Story initiative. Follow the City on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- Poster with harm reduction sites for Delta was developed in collaboration with community partners and distributed to dozens service providers and community partners in Delta that work with residents who may be affected by substance use.
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Jessica's Story
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My daughter, Jessica was a beautiful human being, both inside and out. She was a passionate high school teacher, partner, and mom. She was compassionate, kind, intelligent, and a champion of the underdog. She was recipient of the “UBC most promising teacher” award in 2012. Jessica was also a victim of assault and trauma in her early teens. In her late 20s, she began using substances to ease her emotional pain. Jessica was in recovery and 10 months sober before she passed away unexpectedly on April 22, 2018.
She was only 34 years old. Jessica’s journey with opioids began with her partner. They were both looking for an escape from their past traumas. As it so happened, a friend of theirs was being prescribed 800 mg of opioids per day, which he was using himself, sharing with his partner, Jessica and her partner, and selling the remainder on the street. Jessica and her partner also became parents during this time to a beautiful daughter. Now addicted to opioids and unable to take time away from their jobs in order to recover, when their friend’s physician stopped prescribing the opioids, Jessica and her partner began purchasing them illegally, and when they became either too expensive or unavailable, they turned to smoking heroin. It was as if the stars were aligned, in a bad way, because around that time, fentanyl began creeping into the picture.
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Phil Kristofic's Story
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My name is Phil Kristofic. I've lived in delta for 38 years, I'm 41years old. For 23 of those years I was a daily opiate user. My addiction nearly destroyed me and I almost lost everything. Opiates ruled my life. It was the only thing I needed everyday to feel normal. I woke up thinking of when I would use or how I would get it and went to sleep thinking the same way.
My life had become unmanageable. If I didn't have it I would become sick and couldn't work or have to leave early to get some. It became extremely difficult to hold down a steady job. I had disappointed so many people that cared about me so many times that the shame of my actions and my decisions almost ended my life. I felt alone and disconnected.
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A Police Officer's Story
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This story has been provided by the Delta Police to Delta Optimist (March 14, 2022) as part of the End the Stigma Campaign.
More than 2,200 people died of drug toxicity in 2021, and 19 of those individuals were Delta residents. This is a crisis that has touched many families, including that of a Delta Police officer.
Former Sergeant Kevin Jones, who retired in February 2022, last saw his daughter Sara in November 2017. She died of an Opiate overdose in January 2018, at age 28 leaving behind two young children.
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Finn's story
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𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴...𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.
𝖫𝗂𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖺𝗇 𝖺𝖽𝖽𝗂𝖼𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗎𝗇𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇 𝖺𝖽𝖽𝗂𝖼𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗂𝖽𝖽𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝖺 𝗆𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗆. 𝖠𝗇 𝗎𝗇𝗉𝗋𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖼𝗍𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾, 𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗋𝗂𝖿𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗅𝗒 𝗉𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖿𝗎𝗅 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗆 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗇𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗆𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀. 𝖨𝗍 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗆𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗌 𝗂𝖿 𝗂𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝗀𝗈𝗍 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗈𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗉𝖺𝗂𝗇𝖿𝗎𝗅 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾. 𝖶𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗐𝗂𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗌𝗈 𝗉𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖿𝗎𝗅 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗉𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗈𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗋𝖾 𝖿𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗀𝗎𝗌𝗍.
