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In 2020, BSc student Chloe Goodison started Naloxhome as a community engagement project providing overdose education and naloxone training to secondary students in the Tri-Cities area. Today, her project has helped not only those in Tri-Cities classrooms, but throughout Metro Vancouver.

Changing Classrooms and Communities: How an FHS student educated over 5,000 people on overdose harm reduction

June 15, 2023
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By: Geron Malbas

“NaloxHome has grown far beyond what I imagined it was capable of,” said Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) student Chloe Goodison, the Student-Community Engagement Competition 2020-21 grand prize winner for her overdose education and naloxone training program. Using a comprehensive, fact-based curriculum, Goodison’s program reached over 5,000 people in British Columbia over a 2-year span. Initially targeted towards secondary students, the program has expanded to include many more groups and communities in BC.

“We talk to secondary students, post-secondary students, middle school students, nurses, community health workers, parents, foreign trained medical professionals, film festival goers, construction workers, people who use drugs, people who know nothing about drugs, and the list goes on.”

Chloe with NaloxHome volunteers

Goodison’s program started with a team of 2 volunteers, and has now grown to over 44 volunteers. These members and volunteers all share the common goal of peer-educating their communities on BC’s drug poisoning crisis.

“A large bulk of our presenters are FHS students, and we have fruitful discussions about the linkage between community involvement and better health,” she explained. “Ultimately, our community engagement is not only benefitting our mental and physical health – but the health of a large, vulnerable, underserved population: people who use drugs.”

Chloe with her Under 25 Volunteer of the Year Award

NaloxHome recently celebrated becoming an official non-profit in BC, making Goodison an executive director at the age of 21.

"Becoming a Registered Society in BC has enabled us to grow at a much faster rate, as we now qualify for significantly larger funding options. As well, we now have a Board of Directors, which is comprised of 6 industry experts who are working hands-on to help us expand. As we are now a Registered Society, we can feasibly seek to expand across Canada."

Her leadership also granted her prestigious awards and nominations, including:

  • SHARE Family & Community Service's "Volunteer of the Year" award for 2022
  • City of Port Coquitlam's "Under 25 Volunteer of the Year Award" for 2023
  • Business/Organization of the Year at the Tri City Youth REACH Awards for NaloxHome
  • A finalist for Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professional of the Year Award

While still in the early stages of her undergraduate career, Goodison credits FHS for her passion in equitable, community-engaged healthcare.

“I largely attribute NaloxHome's mandate, fundamental values, and growth to the courses I've taken in Health Sciences, and I’m looking forwards to at least two more years at SFU,” she explains. " I would love for others to feel inspired by the opportunities available at SFU to make a big difference in their community – I live by the motto: you don't need to leave your own community to make a big difference in the world.”