Portland Hotel Society celebrates 25 years serving B.C.'s most marginalized

The organization behind the first supervised injection site in North America is celebrating a milestone.

The non-profit Portland Hotel Society is celebrating its 25th birthday this month with a street party on the Downtown Eastside but also reflections on the importance of its work over the decades.

"It was a really wonderful time," executive director Jennifer Breakspear told On The Coast host Gloria Macarenko about Thursday's celebration.

"Frankly, at this moment, that neighbourhood, our community, needs a reason to celebrate."

The society started with the work of a nurse, Liz Evans, who provided care to people with addictions and people living with HIV/AIDS in the Portland Hotel, a single-room occupancy building on the Downtown Eastside.

Today, the group operates over a dozen housing projects for marginalized people, provides outreach and health services and, famously, has operated Insite since 2003.

Pride in staff

Breakspear expressed pride in the work of her staff and volunteers in helping the most marginalized people living in B.C., and especially on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

But the group has dealt with internal problems in recent years: a spending scandal which revealed directors and managers were treated to lavish trips and perks.

While then-co-executive director Mark Townsend said none of the expenses in question were paid for with government or program money, he and the board resigned to avoid threatened cuts from the provincial government.

Breakspear says even though that saga has cast a shadow over the group and led to major changes at the society, the good work of its staff never stopped.

"Everyone at the PHS took seriously the concerns about fiscal management," she said. "I believe we are demonstrating that.

"We've had a number of very clean audits… and continue to deliver on the mission."

Looking ahead

Looking ahead, Breakspear says the society's work has never been more important because of the opioid crisis, which has claimed thousands of lives in B.C.

She says the society has built on what was learned with Insite to open overdose prevention sites to provide more locations for people to consume drugs under supervision.

"Thank god we had Insite when this all started," she said. "Being able to open overdose prevention sites… a more approachable model, I would say, has literally saved countless lives."

Breakspear says a new tool the society is using to fight overdoses is "Spikes on Bikes."

Under that program, volunteers clean up needles, distribute harm reduction supplies, train people on overdose response and even reverse overdoses themselves all while riding bikes through the West End and the Downtown Eastside.

Listen to the full interview:

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast