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Program Types: Community Wellness, Health Services, Resources,
Learn about street outreach with the 2SLGBTQ+ community, overdose prevention, drop-in support skills, crisis de-escalation, and more.
Apply no later than October 19, 2026
The519.org/BTITraining
You can also pick up a paper application in The 519 lobby [519 Church St., Toronto].
The 519’s Breaking The Ice team is looking for compassionate, reliable, teamwork-oriented people with lived experience to join our paid Harm Reduction Training Series.
Learn to work with community members who don’t trust services, and how to keep them safer without judging them.
Seeking participants with lived experience of drug use, homelessness, sex work, incarceration, overdose response, mental health systems, or HIV/HCV.
Questions? contact Jordan:
JThorne@The519.org, or call 647-453-8955
About the project
Breaking The Ice (BTI) is a community engagement and outreach program focused on supporting people who use crystal meth in Toronto’s Downtown East. The team has a specific focus on understanding the needs and barriers faced by 2SLGBTQ+ people who use drugs.
Peer-led and rooted in principles of harm reduction and anti-violence, the team:
- engages in regular street outreach,
- develops resources pertinent to community needs, and
- develops and delivers groups, workshops, and activities to both strengthen community capacity, as well as foster self-determination and agency in the folks we work with.
The BTI team also acts as a hub for referrals to case management, housing, mental and physical health services, and broadly supports diverse community needs for people who use drugs.
Resources
International Overdose Awareness Day (Toronto) 2021
Footage taken from various events surrounding International Overdose Awareness Day 2021 around Toronto.
Letters to Meth
Part of the first phase of BTI, ‘Letters to Meth’ is an artistic project that showcases the tensions, contradictions, triumphs, and struggles of our communities in their relationship to crystal meth. The aim of this piece – a collection of letters to meth – is to work towards reducing the pervasive stigma and shame surrounding methamphetamine use. The tool is available as a zine as well as in audio-visual form.
Download the Letters to Meth Zine (PDF version)
Crystal After-Care Resource Insert
This insert has been created for our crystal after-care kit that we hand out to our community members which also includes gum, lip balm, candy, rolling papers to help facilitate the cruel come-down of crystal meth. Read more here.
Breaking the Ice is funded by the Toronto Urban Health Fund. If you have questions or would like to know more, contact us at Ice@The519.org.
