Anonymous donations keep the supervised consumption site in Sudbury, Ont. running for another month

The supervised consumption site in Sudbury, Ont. will be able to continue operating for another month thanks to anonymous donations.

The harm reduction organization Réseau ACCESS Network operates the site, commonly known as the Spot, which had its funding from the province cut off at the end of 2023.

Late last year mining company Vale donated $75,000 to Réseau ACCESS Network so it could continue to run the supervised consumption site for the month of January.

Amber Fritz, Réseau ACCESS Network's manager of supervised consumption services, said new donations from anonymous donors will be enough to operate for an additional month.

Fritz could not say, however, exactly how much the organization received from those anonymous donors.

"The staff and I were convinced that we were going to be shutting down at the end of January, and then it turned out that's not the case. So that was pretty remarkable," Fritz said.

"Folks who access services are incredibly relieved that they have a safe place to come to for at least another month, anyway."

But Fritz said it's been difficult for her team, and people who use their services, not knowing if their funding will run out, as they operate on a month-to-month basis.

The Spot provides a safe space for people to use drugs, with health-care professionals on site.

Provincial review still ongoing

Last October the province paused all funding applications for supervised consumption sites after a 44-year-old woman was killed by a stray bullet outside of a site in Toronto's east end.

The City of Greater Sudbury helped fund the site for its first year.

But a motion late last year to fund it for an additional six months was defeated.

Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre said city hall was wary of providing additional funding to The Spot as it would create an expectation that cities and towns step in to fill gaps in provincial funding.    

The province is currently reviewing its funding of supervised consumption sites, and Fritz said she hopes that concludes soon.

"I really hope that the review that the province is conducting will conclude and that we will receive the provincial funding that we applied for in August 2021," she said.

Fritz added that in addition to providing a safe space for people to use drugs, the Spot also connects people with other services and can reach out to harm reduction workers while they are in crisis.