Emma Convey

Direction 180 in Halifax’s north end provides a low-barrier opioid treatment program and it’s seen an increased need for their services in recent years. “We service folks that have opioid use disorder so they come to us and they can get started on treatment and that’s in the form of OAT, which a lot of people know as methadone and these are medications that are proven to be very effective and the gold standard for opioid use disorder,” says Amanda Moore, Direction 180 program manager.

Harold Cook works as a registered nurse with the mobile outreach street team run by North End Community Health Centre. Whether it’s shelters, encampments or on the streets, he meets people where they are to provide primary health care. He’s working on the frontlines of a crisis fueled by opioids. “Historically, Halifax has been predominantly an opioid overdose community. There is a lot of opioid use in HRM, we know how to handle those situations,” says Cook.

Toronto duo YASSiN & Sean Terrio drove from Ontario to New Glasgow, N.S. to put on a show Thursday night. It was their second time performing on the East Coast, but first time in this small Nova Scotian community. “Philosophically we are just guys that went for it. But we are actually a group of guys who met in a serendipitous way at an open mic and slowly but surely, we kept meeting people who wanted to do the same thing and here we are,” says Sean Terrio.