Ask Wellness
Winter in Kamloops makes life harder for the homeless: ASK Wellness
KAMLOOPS – Winter is coming. While we groan a little, pull out the hats and scarves and put winter tires on the car, the homeless population in Kamloops faces considerably more challenges. “Our bylaw says you can set up a tent at 10 o’clock at night and then you need to take it down by...
ASK Wellness and RIH partnership helping the vulnerable in Kamloops
KAMLOOPS - A partnership between the hospital in Kamloops and a local group which supports vulnerable citizens will continue to provide support services after receiving a boost from the province today. The ASK Wellness Society and Royal Inland Hospital have been working together, through a health navigator, to help people discharged from the hospital connect...
Homeless Count: The unseen residents of Kamloops
KAMLOOPS – Every year a group of volunteers brave the fall cold, wake up at the crack of dawn and ply themselves with hot coffee to conduct the city’s homeless count. They walk the back alleys, they search under bridges and they scour the beaches to hand out backpacks full of supplies and count the...
Volunteers needed for Kamloops homeless count
KAMLOOPS - Volunteers are needed to help identify the homeless population in Kamloops. The homeless count is used to collect statistics on the homeless population to use to lobby the government for funding and to educate the public on their existence. “We take one day snap shot of how many homeless people we can find in...
ELECTION 2015: Kamloops Green Party candidate trying to connect with small-c Conservatives
KAMLOOPS – To understand Green Party federal candidate in the riding of Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, you need to understand the Green Party. Matt Greenwood, 35, says his party is the alternative choice to the Conservatives. “In this particular campaign I think there’s a pretty big segment of voters out there who are probably feeling politically homeless,” Greenwood...
Long walks on this Kamloops beach could end in a tetanus shot
KAMLOOPS – A leisurely stroll along the beach in Centennial Park ended in a two-person clean-up expedition for one Westsyde couple. Mark and Andrea Sandberg found hundreds of rusty nails along the beach. The discovery Tuesday night, July 28, prompted them to pick up as many nails as they could over the following two nights....
Solution needed to costly transient camp issue in Kamloops
KAMLOOPS – Calls to bylaws about homeless camps have more than doubled since 2013 and the issue has become a sore spot for an Ask Wellness staff member who says the process and costs of camp teardown is flawed. “The way we handle homeless camps I think is absolutely ridiculous and it probably costs the...
Fentanyl-laced heroin still in Kamloops
WARNING COMES ON HEELS OF VERNON OVERDOSES KAMLOOPS - The tainted drugs that have Vernon RCMP concerned following a recent rash of overdoses have been in Kamloops for awhile already but people have ‘learned how to use it’ according to an outreach worker. There have been six overdoses, including two fatal ones, in Vernon since...
The most widely used illegal drug in Kamloops might surprise you
KAMLOOPS – The most widely used illegal drug in Kamloops is a concoction of chemicals from around your house. Crystal meth, one of the most addictive drugs out there, is gaining in popularity in the city. Crystal methamphetamine started to appear around ten years ago, says Ken Salter from Ask Wellness, adding it's been gaining...
Overdoses likely from drug being sold as heroin
KAMLOOPS - Ken Salter from Ask Wellness is warning drug users about a powerful painkiller being marketed as heroin on the streets of the city. Salter says a dealer is selling fentanyl – a strong prescription painkiller – as heroin. Both drugs are obviously dangerous, but fentanyl is 100 times stronger than heroin and is...