Trevor Tablitney gathered residents of Steveston in Richmond together for a cause near and dear to his heart.

This week marks 10 years since the province declared a public health emergency in response to the rapid rise in drug-related deaths, marking the beginning of what is recognized as the toxic drug crisis.

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“We have lost a lot of people; there are thousands of people who have died in our province alone, but across the entire continent, and it’s important to hold this space on an anniversary like this and really speak to it,” Tablitney said, who is the co-founder of the Curtis Dream Society.

“This is a photo of my brother, three days before he passed away and the last time I saw him. Three days later, he was found in his bedroom, playing video games. He died from a toxic drug overdose.”

Tablitney also brought along his late brother Curtis’ Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4.

“I invited people to play video games with me because my brother, Curtis, is not here to play video games with me.”

But the car serves a much deeper purpose than just a place to play video games.

“I wanted to give his car to the community and so if anybody is in crisis or needs to talk about this, I have had conversations with family members who don’t know what to do, have had conversations with people who are in an active crisis and we go for a drive, we have a cup of coffee, we hang out for a bit and just something to be there.”

Some attendees are also writing letters to their MLA, Kelly Greene.

“As we take away decriminalizing, we are back to criminalizing people, and putting them through punitive systems instead of how do we help people?” Tablitney said.

Those on their recovery journeys were also there to share their stories.

“I come out here and volunteer, I am in recovery myself, and it does give people hope for change, but it’s hard because I come out here I get everybody jived up for recovery, and there is no space, we need more space, more resources and help to get people into recovery when they’re ready,” said Chelynn Moizer, volunteer outreach worker.

“Thankfully, due to this work of decreasing stigma and teaching about harm reduction, which really helped save my life and gave me back a sense of purpose,” said Brandon Glasspool, peer advisor for mental health and substance abuse, who is also currently on a recovery journey.

“Being able to get in contact with community members helped in my recovery the most. It’s the hardest thing, the stigma is so strong that people feel ashamed, embarrassed, to have that sense of belonging is really important in recovery.”