OUR STORY

CEDAR Outreach began as Project Angel on November 26, 2018 after the Abbotsford Opioid Working Group received funding from British Columbia’s Community Wellness and Harm Reduction Grants.

Project Angel was managed in part by the Abbotsford police department, along with Peer Support Coordinators who received referrals from first responders, community support agencies, client’s friends and families, and the clients themselves. Peer Support would then connect these clients to appropriate resources within the community based on their unique needs.

“I know what it feels like to be alienated from society, isolated, to be angry,” said Kiah Ashley, Project Angel’s first Peer Support Coordinator. Having peers on staff is part of what made Project Angel so successful. A peer is someone who shares the same lived experience as the people they are serving.

This program was a groundbreaking initiative that bridged the communication gap between the police department and people struggling with substance use needs and precarious housing. It recognized that clients needed multiple positive connections with peer support workers before they would accept help and access resources available to them.

The program championed people who had lived experience with substance use as integral agents of change in the opioid crisis. Within its first year of active service, the project received 250 referrals, with about half of those from within the Abbotsford Police Department.

“What we do is take some of the load off first responders, make relationships, and hopefully create pathways to recovery and treatment,” said Abbotsford Police Department Constable Ian MacDonald in an interview with Global News in 2019.

The program’s main focus is around human connection, whether that be referring clients to community services, chatting over cups of coffee, or providing them with tangible resources like harm reduction supplies or warm winter clothing.

In 2021, Project Angel evolved into a non-profit society called CEDAR Outreach Society so that it could function independently from the Abbotsford Police Department. The name CEDAR is an acronym for our key values: Compassion, Empowerment, Destigmatization, Advocacy, and Respect.

CEDAR began working collaboratively with other stakeholders in the community, such as Archway Community Services. CEDAR Outreach operated a harm reduction tent at The Cabin, a daytime shelter in Abbotsford that opened on November 16, 2021 and was in operation until September, 2022.

“Providing harm reduction services and supplies provides us an entry point into conversations with people,” said Megan Capp, Manager of Social Justice, Seniors and Housing at Archway. “It helps reduce the stigma around drug use, so we are able to support them if, and when, they choose to access any supports.”

On October 3, 2022, Cedar Outreach relaunched with a new team of leadership, peer support, and outreach workers thanks to additional funding provided by the City of Abbotsford and the Canadian Mental Health Association. CEDAR Outreach is now operational seven days a week and into after-hours to serve people experiencing multiple barriers within Abbotsford.

"We do our best to connect clients to where they need to be connected," said Josh Burton, Project Manager of CEDAR Outreach Society.

Const. Ian MacDonald and Kiah Ashley

Peer Worker supply kit

The Cabin

CEDAR Peer Worker and Outreach Worker