We're Back!

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak seems to have changed every part of our daily lives in the last few months, and that’s especially true for us here at the Umbrella Society. 
 

Our organization has seen extraordinary growth since May, after we were asked to support hundreds of new people being housed in temporary shelters and hotels due to the pandemic.
 

We have added 14 new staff members to accommodate the demand. But we’re still doing what we’ve always done, providing on-the-ground outreach to those seeking help with mental health and addiction challenges.

Inside, Umbrella outreach staffers like Emmett, Nicole and Brae are providing general support, help with income and disability assistance, probation support and access to counselling and group services. They’re also continuing to connect clients with detox, stabilization beds and residential treatment, like Umbrella has been doing for years in Greater Victoria and on Salt Spring Island.

That’s on top of the regular work you’ve come to know Umbrella for: daily check-in group meetings (temporarily being done by videoconferencing during the pandemic), integrated teams, support staff at local hospitals, clinics and in the corrections system; youth and adult outreach, family and individual counselling and of course all of our recovery houses.

Our hard work was recently highlighted in a Victoria Times Colonist article. We thank journalist Katie DeRosa for spending the day with team lead Evan James. And we thank all of you, our supporters, donors and corporate partners, for keeping our organization strong and in a position to help so many during these challenging times.

Umbrella is offering  Naloxone training sessions for any community member that would like to learn about this important lifesaving tool. These classes will run at Umbrella’s office from 6:30 to 7:30pm on the 3rd Thursday of every month and will be facilitated by Tracey Thompson, from Public Health. Space is limited, please get in touch to sign up.

Umbrella is also a Naloxone distribution site. Please share with your networks to ensure that everyone who needs Naloxone has it.