Change starts upstream — a glimpse into the liberatory effect of community-centered care in St. John’s
In the wake of a national overdose crisis, fuelled by a toxic drug supply, the province of Newfoundland & Labrador has seen a significant increase in overdoses, with over 100 reported fatalities since 2023. In an effort to address this crisis, Overdose Awareness & Response St. John’s (O.A.R.S.) has been operating a pop-up overdose prevention site every Friday night, since May of 2025.
The holistic approach undertaken by groups such as O.A.R.S. is slowly transforming the urban landscape of the city. Change starts upstream — by reimagining care in ways that transcend the borders of medical institutions, and bringing it back into the community, one conversation, one connection at a time.
Luca Schaefer (she/her) is a trans woman and community organizer who passionately advocates for the self-determination of sex workers, unhoused people, people who use drugs, and Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island and beyond. Luca moved to St John's in 2022 from Nogojiwanong Peterborough, and has since offered her ethics of care through various leadership roles with (OARS), Safe Works Access Program (SWAP), Safe Harbour Outreach Project (SHOP), Trans Youth NL, and Echo Pond Summer camp.
Alex McLean (they/them) is an MSc candidate in Community health in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University. They are a qualitative health researcher in training whose work focuses on how harm reduction is operationalized in the context of St. John's, spatially, socially, and politically, with attention to both institutional and grassroots efforts in the community. Alex moved to St. John’s from Ottawa, the traditional unceded territories of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. They have experience in community organizing for a number of initiatives during their time in Toronto, focusing specifically on sexual health, sexual violence prevention, 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy, and disability justice. These experiences have informed the way Alex approaches research, grounded in local knowledge and community collaboration.
