Island Cream restaurant thankful for support after window smashed last month

You’re reading the March 9, 2023 edition of the Peterborough Currents email newsletter. To receive our email newsletters straight to your inbox, sign up here.

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Good morning,

Since last May, a downtown clinic has been giving opioid prescriptions to a small group of people who use drugs as part of a pilot project aimed at preventing overdoses. Now, that safer supply trial is becoming a permanent service in the city – but the clinic says it needs extra federal funding to expand it to more people.

Also in this week’s newsletter, a popular downtown eatery whose front window was smashed in recently is saying thanks after patrons pitched in to help with repairs.

Thanks so much for reading … let’s get to the stories!

“We have such a beautiful community”: Island Cream restaurant thankful for support after window smashed last month

The chef at beloved downtown eatery Island Cream Caribbean Cuisine is thanking the public for their support after the business was damaged last month.

Someone smashed through the large front window of the Hunter Street restaurant on February 18, according to chef Glen Ford, who runs the business with his wife, Saburah.

A GoFundMe campaign to help pay for the damage, started by two restaurant patrons, has raised about $1,500 – which is enough to cover the cost of the new glass, Ford said.

“We have such a beautiful community,” he said. “We are thankful.” The family will now donate any extra money raised to a local food bank, he said.

The restaurant, which has been a fixture on Hunter Street for nearly two decades, was closed briefly following the incident, according to the GoFundMe page.

Glen Ford said the person who smashed through the glass was badly injured. Saburah Ford suspects the person was suffering from mental illness, and she wishes there was more support for people who are struggling downtown. She said there’s a “social emergency” happening in Peterborough when it comes to homelessness, mental illness and poverty. “That to us is so much worse than the fact that the glass was broken,” she said. “We have to reorganize and help people [who are struggling].”

This is the second time the community has come through for the family after the front window was shattered, Glen Ford said. The other time was three years ago, and Ford and his wife got a surprise after the new glass was installed.

“When we went to pay the bill, someone actually in the community anonymously paid it,” he said. “So we have a good community here.”

Results from Peterborough’s safer supply program raise hope

It can be difficult to find hope in the face of the drug poisoning crisis. But Nancy Henderson sees plenty of signs of it when hearing the stories of people in Peterborough’s safer supply pilot program.

“People are reporting that they’re feeling healthier. One person is working now, someone else’s relationships with family are improving,” said Henderson, who is leading an evaluation of the program.

And, crucially, people in the program have stopped overdosing from toxic street drugs, Henderson said.

Peterborough’s 360 Degree Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic received more than $1 million in funding from Health Canada to design and run the pilot program.

The aim is to keep people who use drugs alive by diverting them away from toxic street drugs and onto safer, pharmaceutical-grade opioids. 

Now Henderson, who also works on other safer supply programs in Ontario and B.C., hopes Health Canada will provide additional funding so the program can help more people at risk of dying from drug poisonings.

“These programs are working; people are doing well,” Henderson said. “And they really need to be expanded.”

While funding to grow the pilot program and offer it to more individuals is still up in the air, staff say one thing is clear: the clinic will continue offering safer supply services to those already enrolled.

“We have a sustainability plan in place,” said Carolyn King, the program’s manager. “Our 22 participants will still have access to support and their prescriptions as long as they need it.”

Those participants aren’t only getting a safer alternative to street drugs. The program also supports participants to achieve personal life goals, such as going back to school or improving their relationships, and helps them break through the stigma that prevents many people who use drugs from accessing health care.

“Some people come into the program not even sure what their goals might be, except for minimizing risk of death through overdose or drug poisoning,” King said. “Then once they’re freed up from the daily grind of having to source street-sourced substances, their minds become a bit free to start thinking about what they do want their lives to look like.”

To learn more about how the program is supporting people to reach their goals, read my full interview with King and Henderson here.

Other stories to watch

PIGGOT URGES FREE BIRTH CONTROL — Peterborough’s medical officer of health is calling on Ontario to make birth control free across the province, according to a media release from Peterborough Public Health. The move would follow the lead of British Columbia, which on April 1 will become the first Canadian province to cover the cost of prescription contraception for all residents. Piggott made the call in a letter to Dr. Keiran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, on Wednesday, International Women’s Day, according to the release. Piggott also urged Moore and the provincial government to “prioritize” expanded access to menstrual products. “Inability to afford basic necessities such as tampons, pads and liners fuel[s] stigma and shame while creating health risks for people who struggle to afford them,” Piggott is quoted as saying in the release. “Gender equity is a public health issue, but it is also all of our issue to address.”

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY — Cheyenne Sundance had never even worked in agriculture when she decided to start an urban farm in 2019, at age 22. Today that venture is booming, with three locations in North York, Peel Region and Guelph. And Sundance has become a prominent voice for greater diversity and equity in farming, as founding president of the National Farmers Union’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) caucus. Sundance will share her story, and talk about the importance of diverse youth voices in leadership positions, as part of an International Women’s Day event tonight (Thursday) at the Lion’s Community Centre in East City. The event, organized by the Kawartha World Issues Centre and the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, will also be livestreamed.

“DRAG STORY TIME IS PURE JOY” — Drag performer Betty Baker spilled the tea to Maclean’s magazine last week about facing far-right protesters outside her drag story-time events at the Peterborough Public Library in recent months. In an article on the magazine’s website, 19-year-old Baker tells the story of her first foray into drag at 14 – and what it’s like to be accused of “sexualizing” children by far-right protesters. “It’s not easy to see people call you a groomer and a pedophile all day,” Baker, whose real name is Isaac Maker, says in the piece. “I know I could stop, but I would feel like I was letting myself down and letting down the kids and families who need to see themselves represented.” 

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That’s all for this week’s newsletter. Thanks for reading, and take care! Click here to receive these email updates straight to your inbox.