Social Innovation grad making a difference in Vancouver’s overdose crisis

Having recently completed our Social Innovation Certificate program, clinical nurse educator Sally Kupp is now applying her learning toward battling the overdose crisis in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Sally co-created the Street Degree in Overdose Prevention program with the Portland Hotel Society in 2017. The program has since trained about 350 peers—current and former drug users—who work at local overdose-prevention and harm-reduction sites.

While the lived experience of peers is invaluable, Sally realized they were receiving minimal training despite supporting at least three-quarters of those at risk of overdose in Vancouver. Her program provides formal training to peers in several key areas, and grants a Street Degree once a peer completes 10 courses.  

After a full year of running the program off the side of her desk at Vancouver Coastal Health, she signed up for our Social Innovation Certificate in search of new ways to improve and support the Street Degree process.

Read Sally’s full story on SFU News.