SURKEUS RECORDS LAUNCHES ITS FIRST MERCH FUNDRAISER TODAY! We're so excited to announce that the first line of Surkeus Records label merch is now available! We’ve got masks (super high quality ones), shopping bags, hoodies and T-shirts available in our Bandcamp merch store and we're donating 100% of the proceeds from the first month to two amazing charities!!
www.surkeusrecords.bandcamp.com/merch
www.musicheals.ca
www.solidvictoria.org
We believe that it’s essential to raise awareness and support charitable organizations that are working hard to bring love and light into this world, so we're donating 100% of the proceeds from merch sales in the first month (now til May 14, 2021) to Music Heals in Vancouver @musicheals_ca and SOLID Outreach from right here in Victoria @solidoutreach . These two amazing organizations are doing some really great work, and we want to show them that the indie arts community sees it, and appreciates them. More about these great charities below. Thanks in advance for your help!
Since 2012, Music Heals has raised awareness and funds to increase access to music therapy for vulnerable Canadians. Music Heals supports a wide range of music therapy services in communities in BC and across Canada. We increase access to music therapy for patients in children’s hospitals, seniors centres, palliative care, AIDS & HIV programs, at-risk youth, rehabilitation, and bereavement support. To date Music Heals has funded over 32,000 music therapy sessions for Canadians in need.
Music Heals is a not-for-profit society incorporated in British Columbia and is registered with Canada Revenue Agency as a charitable foundation.
Who they Serve:
Music Therapy in Alzheimer and Dementia Care
Music Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Music Therapy and Brain Injuries How can music therapy work with brain injuries?
Music Therapy and Developmental Delay
Music Therapy and Mental Health
Music Therapy and Palliative Care
Music Therapy for Children and Adolescents with Emotional Disorders
Music Therapy for Community Health & Wellness
Music Therapy for Pain Management
Music Therapy for Personal Growth
Music Therapy for the Hearing Impaired
Music Therapy in Dementia Care
Music Therapy and Chemical Dependency
Music Therapy and Schizophrenia
Music Therapy for Physical Disabilities
Music Therapy for Stress Management Anxiety
Music Therapy in Geriatric Care
Music Therapy in the Treatment of Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Music Therapy use in Childbirth and Neonatal Care
To find out more about Music Heals and the great work they’re doing, visit : www.musicheals.ca and follow them on Instagram @musicheals_ca
SOLID is a non-profit organization that provides peer-based health education and support services to reduce the harms associated with drug use in Victoria. Our mandate is to provide accessible pathways to health and treatment for individuals who are street-involved. Our immediate goal is to help our members stay alive during their most difficult times so that they will have the opportunity to improve their lives with the proper supports in place.
At the core of our work, and what makes our programs unique in Victoria, is our commitment to peer-based services: all of services are provided by, and our board is governed by, individuals with current or former experience of drug use and the stigmatization and criminalization that often accompanies drug use. We use this shared experience as a basis for engaging people who would not otherwise access services, as a first step in assisting our members in improving their health, and in channelling our collective knowledge and skills to give back to our community.
When we first started work in the North Park community in 2007, we operated across the street from VicPD on Caledonia St, providing drop-in HIV/HepC support groups and morning and evening syringe recovery to local streets/parking lots, parks and schools.
In 2017, we grew quickly to address the overdose emergency, hiring and training ‘peer’ experiential overdose prevention workers to provide rapid response overdose prevention. In 2020, in response to COVID-based emergency housing needs, we rapidly extended our services again to provide overdose prevention supports at new temporary sheltering sites. We currently employ over 40 experiential harm reduction workers at various off-site services. These include: ‘The Harbour’ supervised consumption service on Pandora, overdose prevention rooms at three housing facilities in Victoria, and an on-foot overdose prevention team that provides naloxone trainings and links to health and treatment services to people living on the street and in supportive housing in Victoria.
In 2018, as a way of addressing continued high rates of death by overdose among our membership, we introduced a ‘Cannabis Substitution Program’ aimed at giving individuals an alternative to potentially deadly opiate, meth and crack use (due to potentially lethal amounts of fentanyl). This program helps individuals change their daily drug use habits by providing a daily substitution amount of cannabis. This also gives us another contact point for linking individuals to more health, support and treatment services. A recent study by UVic’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research found participants reported decreased use of other drugs, better pain management, and improved health in terms of eating and sleeping habits. A key finding is that low to no cost for substitution amounts of cannabis allows better financial options for people on low or no income, including options to buy food with money that is not used for street drugs.
At our most recent location at 1056 North Park (at Cook St), we continue to provide health education programs including daily support groups such as our indigenous women’s group, hep-c education group, and creative writing and music therapy groups. We also operate our morning and evening syringe recovery and harm reduction teams, and provide support getting ID, accessing social assistance, and accessing health services (such as accompanying individuals to hospital and doctor visits).
Our on-site services include:
Health Education, Support and Arts Therapy Groups – support meetings and courses include HIV/HEPC prevention, facilitation and presentation skills, creative writing, indigenous women’s support, and music therapy.
Street outreach – distribution and recovery of harm reduction supplies, naloxone training and safer use health education.
Peer Systems Navigation – supporting individuals in accessing medical care and treatment, assisting with identification paperwork, accessing social assistance and persons with disability supports, and navigating our court and legal systems.
Drug Checking – working with Dr. Bruce Wallace (UVic/CISUR) in research aimed at providing accurate and reliable drug testing to locate and identify fentanyl in drug supply.
Cannabis Substitution Project – cannabis is a safe and effective alternative to opiate use for many people, and we promote diverse options for drug maintenance and improved health by providing cannabis substitution on a daily basis to program participants.
Palliative Care – working with Dr. Kelly Stajuhar (UVic/CISUR) in research to increase accessibility of palliative care supports to individuals who are street-involved and living in poverty.
Cultural safety – working with Dr. Bernie Pauly (UVic/CISUR) in educating health service providers in best practices for ensuring accessibility of hospitals and primary care to people who use drugs and who are street-involved.
For more about SOLID, visit www.solidvictoria.org
Follow them on Instagram at @solidoutreach
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