Indigenous-led RAAM clinic opens in North Point Douglas

A new rapid access to addictions medicine clinic that began seeing people in August officially opened Tuesday.

The Indigenous-led Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine (RAAM) clinic provides wrap around supports and is mostly used by vulnerable people in North Point Douglas.

Monica Cyr, the clinic's operational lead, said that means when it ramps up to full capacity – including adding a mobile outreach team in the spring – they will be able to help more than the 2,300 people than they initially thought.

"Now that we are operational we are seeing that we are able to support six to eight constituents per clinic, there's two clinics,” Cyr said.

Every day, St. Boniface Street Links founder Marion Willis works with people who are living with addictions, facing mental health struggles, or are homeless.

"People in addictions very quickly spiral down into homelessness. Once you're into homelessness now you see the fight for survival,” Willis said. "Those of us that are helping addicts are really delighted with the opening of the new Indigenous RAAM clinic."

Willis is hopeful the new clinic's success will lead to services at other RAAM clinics in the province being built on, including supporting unhoused people living with addictions.

Preliminary data from the chief medical examiner's office shows as of the end of July, there were 243 suspected substance-related deaths. In all of 2022, there were 418 suspected substance-related deaths.

Bernadette Smith, the housing, addictions and homelessness minister of Manitoba and MLA for Point Douglas, said the province is working to connect with vulnerable people.

It comes one day after two people died in an encampment in North Point Douglas.

"We want to make sure that there are resources so people aren't losing their lives to the elements,” Smith said. "We are looking at outreach teams to go out and specifically to look at or work with folks that are in the encampments."