Speaker Name: Sandra Clarkson
Session Description:
Shelter environments across Alberta are increasingly navigating the intersection of homelessness, substance use, and complex medical vulnerability. In 2022–2023, the Calgary Drop-In Centre (DI) experienced a dramatic rise in drug poisonings within its shelter environment, with staff responding to 3,294 incidents in 2023 alone—more than double the previous year. Historically, frontline shelter staff, equipped with first aid training and naloxone, were responsible for responding to these emergencies, creating significant pressure on staff well-being and emergency response systems.
In response, the DI partnered with the Government of Alberta to implement a Dynamic Overdose Response program—now known as the Rapid Response Team (RRT). The model integrates Primary Care Paramedics, a Licensed Practical Nurse, and Peer Support Workers who operate 24/7 within the shelter. While originally designed to improve overdose response, the RRT has evolved into a broader clinical support model that addresses medical emergencies, provides episodic medical care, supports communicable disease management, and strengthens pathways to withdrawal management and recovery services.
The impact has been significant. Clinical triage within the shelter has dramatically reduced emergency service utilization, with poisoning-related calls to 911 decreasing from 1,438 (Aug 2022–Apr 2023) to 65 (Aug 2024–Apr 2025). The program also supports earlier intervention, providing wound care, medication assistance, and wellness checks that prevent unnecessary transfers to acute care.
Importantly, the model has improved staff experience. Frontline stress-satisfaction data collected between 2023 and 2025 shows a gradual shift from net-negative to net-positive results, reflecting a 23.4% improvement toward maximum satisfaction scores.
This presentation will explore how embedding clinical response capacity directly within shelter environments can stabilize crisis settings, reduce system strain, and create meaningful opportunities to engage individuals in recovery pathways. The session will highlight lessons learned and discuss how integrated response models align with Recovery Alberta’s focus on coordinated care, recovery-oriented systems, and timely access to treatment.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the Rapid Response Team (RRT) model implemented within a large urban shelter and understand the clinical and peer-based roles that support overdose response, medical triage, and care coordination.
Examine the system-level impacts of embedding medical response capacity within shelter environments, including reductions in emergency service utilization and improved clinical triage.
Understand how integrated crisis response models create opportunities for recovery engagement, including pathways to withdrawal management, treatment, and other recovery-oriented supports.
BIO
Sandra has been with the DI since January 2017 and is dedicated to ending chronic homelessness in Calgary through collaboration, transparency, and accountability. She recognizes the DI’s vital role in supporting single adults at risk of or experiencing homelessness and brings extensive experience in operational excellence. Guided by purpose‑driven leadership, Sandra leverages strong community partnerships to create systemic improvements for vulnerable Calgarians.
Her impact has been recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award, highlighting her commitment to advancing housing‑focused solutions and transforming homeless‑serving systems of care.
As co‑chair of the Canadian Shelter Transformation Network, she champions housing‑focused emergency shelters as the national standard, inspiring innovation and collective action toward ending homelessness.