Peer Coordinator

**Position**:
**Peer Coordinator **with the Ridge Meadows Community Action Team (STORM - Stop Overdose Ridge Meadows)

Contracted January 2025- December 2025

**Location**:
Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows

(flexible working location within the area)

**Reports to**:
STORM Community Action Table and Leadership Team

**Timeline**:
January 2025- December 2025

**Pay**:
$25/hour

**Hours**:
Approximately 12 hours/week (hours variable; some evenings and weekends required)

**Requirements**:
Criminal Record Check *vulnerable sector

**About the Ridge Meadows Community Action Team**

The Ridge Meadows Community Action Team (STORM - Stop Overdose Ridge Meadows) is a multi-sector group of municipal and community partners. It is composed of individuals from Alouette Addictions, Fraser Health, RainCity Housing, the Salvation Army, School District 42, and folks with lived and living experience with substance use. Our group’s primary goal is to work together to develop a community-based response to the toxic drug supply crisis, identify challenges and address gaps as they arise, and increase community wide compassion, engagement and inclusion.

The Community Action Team:

- Is proactive and action oriented
- Actively engages peers with lived and living experience with substance use (PWLLE)
- Believes all people are equal and that each of us brings value to the conversation
- Understands that stories, best practices, and research are the best tools to communicate our shared message when working on complex community issues
- Recognizes that stigma and shaming create barriers to accessing services
- Is passionate about building a stronger, more resilient community for all
- These values and beliefs guide our work, our interactions, and help us frame our approach.

**Job Summary**

STORM is hiring a part-time Peer Coordinator who will be willing to share their experience to enhance the development and delivery of STORM’s toxic drug supply response in our community.

**Key Duties and Responsibilities**
- Work in collaboration with the Project Coordinator to continue to develop and strengthen the Community Action Team.
- Meet with peers to go over the orientation package to communicate information regarding the history of STORM, its purpose and goals, and to assess mutual fit and shared values.
- Develop educational presentations to share with STORM as required
- Participate in and lead outreach efforts in the community
- providing harm reduction supplies, making connections with peers and community members and offering information, resources and materials.
- Work with the Project Coordinator to produce stigma-reducing, educational and informational content for social media.
- Create and deliver educational content surrounding substance use, harm reduction, mental wellness, and stigma to the public at various events (Farmer’s Markets, Schools, Pop Ups, etc.)
- Demonstrate naloxone instructions to community members at events
- Identify methods of implementing peer led strategies to meet project objectives: strategic project planning, decision making, peer to peer support outreach, and ongoing peer committee membership. This will include strategies for addressing barriers to safe supply, naloxone and naloxone training, harm reduction supplies, and employment opportunities.
- Assist the Project Coordinator and Leadership Team to develop evaluation measures and implementation plans for all project deliverables ahead of the implementation of any deliverable.
- Assist Project Coordinator and Toxic Drug Response Public Health Nurse to gather all specific toxic drug supply data to Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows as part of a continuous and ongoing process to inform the strategies of the committee, peer led objectives, and ensure the voice of PWLLE is at the forefront of any strategy implementation.
- Build and manage a diverse peer team that reflects the data showing the populations most impacted by the toxic drug crisis in our community. This includes but is not limited to; seniors, youth, and men in the trades industry.
- Coordinate peers to attend community events, participate in outreach efforts, and any other additional opportunities as they become available
- Maintain regular and effective communication with members of the peer team and leadership team
- Provide peers with honoraria as needed and track and report all honoraria dispersed on spreadsheet.
- Meet regularly with Project Coordinator for progress check-ins

**Qualifications, Experiences and Abilities**
- Have lived experience with substance use
- Willingness to share personal story
- Experience in public speaking, delivering/facilitating educational sessions
- Demonstrate understanding of the toxic drug supply
- Have knowledge surrounding issues related to substance use
- Knowledgeable of community resources
- Be comfortable working in a variety of settings
- Valid BC Driver’s License
- Use of a reliable vehicle
- Current First Aid and CPR
- Have completed or be willing to