Eight city buses in Regina are sporting new wraps on their side to bring awareness to the overdose crisis in both the city and province.
The wraps will display a picture of mothers, who have lost their children to overdoses, holding white crosses on the steps of the Saskatchewan legislature The words “overdoses can affect anyone” are on the side of the photo. The buses will be operating on a number of bus routes in the city starting Monday.
Jenny Churchill, one of the mothers in the picture, lost her son to an overdose. Following his death, she became a member of Moms Stop The Harm among other groups to help raise awareness and gain support for mental health and addictions advocacy.
Churchill said they have never seen this kind of a campaign in Saskatchewan before, but she hopes it will bring change.
“We are the faces of this crisis,” she started. “We hope the public looks at the pictures, sees the crosses and the message, breaks the stigma and creates conversations to further our work in terms of our advocacy.”
One of the eight Regina city buses with the new wrap that will be on display to raise awareness of overdose and addictions. (Photo: Moises Canales/620 CKRM)
The bus wraps are part of Monday’s International Overdose Awareness Day events taking place in the Queen City. One of the buses with the new wrap transported Churchill and other moms on Monday afternoon down Albert Street to place purple ribbons along the Albert Street Bridge featuring the names of loved ones and friends who have died.
In addition to the wraps, the Albert Street and College Avenue electronic billboard will display photos of the mothers and their children.
Churchill said this is an opportunity to spread their message.
“It’s an international crisis and it really affects Canada, but it is very prevalent in Saskatchewan, which is an example of the lack of health care that has been provided in this province over the last ten years,” she added.
The initiative is a partnership with members of Moms Stop The Harm, a national network comprised of mostly mothers who have lost their children to drug overdoses, Regina city councillor Jerry Flegel and local businesses. Flegel said after he was approached with the idea, he reached out to contacts for financial support to fund the advertisements.
