Street Degree Graduation

The SRO Collaborative office has been happy to host recent classes of the Street Degree Program. Through the Street Degree, DTES residents are given the opportunity to train in core areas of harm reduction and overdose response. They offer courses like advanced overdose response, train the trainer, pain management and cultural safety to people that live the opioid crisis everyday.

The TORO program is a big supporter of the Street Degree Program and the TOROs are encouraged and resourced to take classes and track their progress towards graduation. Several TOROs have already completed the program and some have moved on to be able toinstruct the classes. This is all part of the TORO program’s philosophy to not only reduce harm but to teach the TOROs life skills that they can use outside of their roles as overdose responders.

This week was an especially important class. One of our TOROs had completed the program and was honoured with a song and graduation celebration.

We had local indigenous knowledge keepers and singers in the room to mark the occasion. It was a great opportunity to reflect on the benefits that participating in the TORO program and harm reduction organizing more generally has on the DTES community.