Meet Mark Blackwood

My name is Mark Blackwood. I work for Réseau Access Network. It’s in Sudbury and we take care of the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts.
I decided to change my life for the better about two years ago and ever since then I’ve been drawn into harm reduction and advocacy. And that was never me. Well I didn’t see that being me, but it’s me.
It’s not a job. It’s part of my life now and in a healthy way. I went from being a user to helping users and it’s impacted me gravely. The challenges are not being able to be there sometimes when someone has overdosed and I know if I was there with my naloxone kit that chances are I could have helped that person. That’s very challenging, especially if it’s a friend or someone that I personally know.
When I’m home I’m doing harm reduction. I’m making sure my neighbor has a naloxone kit. Like, it’s not just work. I don’t do this for a paycheck. I do it because it’s here [Mark puts his hand to his heart]. It feels good to be a positive part of the community as opposed to that stigmatized person in the shadows.