With Open Arms: A Toolkit for Supportive Conversations about Substance Use – FNHA
Aug 15, 2025
Backgrounded by mounting concerns about the toxic drug public health emergency among First Nations communities around BC, First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) recently launched “With Open Arms”, a project with the goal of providing First Nations youth with a hub where they can access information about substance use and harm reduction supports.
From the outset, it was important that the project be guided by First Nations youth voices. Before work was started, FNHA formed a provincial youth advisory committee composed of First Nations youth from around BC and beyond with varying relationships to substance use. Over the next 18 months, the project was guided by their ideas and lived experiences.
The youth advisory committee and FNHA co-designed a toolkit intended to teach youth skills and provide them with information needed to have supportive conversations around substance use, harm reduction, wellness and recovery.
