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WHO WE ARE
The Full Story
As the pandemic emerged, it underscored the barriers and harms faced by marginalized communities across the city. Street Cats YYC was created to bridge gaps in support, reduce stigma, and address the isolation impacting so many. We are a trauma-informed, inclusive, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive organization grounded in mutual aid, embracing a sex-positive, drug-positive, and anti-capitalist approach.
Vision
A community where people who use drugs, people who are unhoused or housing-insecure, and people involved in sex work or the street economy are safe, supported, and treated with dignity - within a society that is informed, engaged, and willing to challenge the systems driving the housing and toxic drug supply crisis.
Mission
Street Cats YYC is a peer-led harm reduction collective made up of people who know the streets and oppressive institutions because we've lived them. we show up for our community through mutual aid, advocacy, and direct support, building power, safety, and self-determination together.
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Self-Determination
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Street Cats YYC rejects the criminalization of people who use drugs. We believe that people who use drugs have the right to self-determination — including the freedom to govern their own lives, control what they put into their bodies, and create institutions that serve their communities.
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Solidarity
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​Street Cats YYC recognizes that the same forces that oppress people who use drugs also harm other marginalized groups. We stand in solidarity with all oppressed peoples.
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Healing Justice
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Love is the foundation of community healing. Through relationships rooted in trust, care, and mutual respect, we can work to heal from the histories of violence and oppression that have torn our communities apart.
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Autonomy & Choice
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All life has value. Street Cats YYC opposes practices and ideologies that undermine human dignity and agency, including forced or coerced treatment. We believe that living in a world free from oppression — where people can make informed choices about their own lives — is a fundamental human right.
Values
Community-Grounded Leadership
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Street Cats YYC rejects hierarchical notions of power and affirms that all community members have the capacity to lead, share knowledge, and innovate in ways that serve the collective. While Street Cats YYC supports individual rights and autonomy, we reject the ideology of individualism. We recognize that interdependence and solidarity are essential to abolitionist work.
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Sustainability
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Street Cats YYC is committed to ongoing growth and advocacy for policy changes that empower individuals and dismantle systemic harm. We strive to build shared, inclusive systems rooted in community by supporting education, advocacy, and well-being, and by working to establish foundations that meaningfully meet community needs.
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Education
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Street Cats YYC works to keep the public informed about the social, economic, health, and treatment-related realities of drug use. Together, we challenge stigma, combat misinformation, disrupt oppressive systems, and strengthen our community through education, collective action, and participatory research.
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Liberation
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Street Cats YYC opposes the unjust harassment, assault, detention, and arrest of people who use drugs. We recognize the importance of taking proactive steps to ensure our work does not unintentionally reproduce the harms of dominant systems by neglecting the needs of people who use drugs, women, Black and Indigenous people, disabled people, members of the queer community, and other marginalized groups who are often denied a voice in decisions that impact them.
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Street Cats YYC practices ongoing solidarity and remains open to feedback from the communities we engage with. We are part of a community-first response committed to collective safety and liberation for all.
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Power With, Not Power Over
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Street Cats YYC is creating space for people to step fully into their power. We support one another in exercising power in ways that amplify the visions, growth, and leadership of others. We actively question and work to transform relationships where one person’s empowerment depends on the control, coercion, or disempowerment of another.
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Accountability & Transparency
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We commit to transparency in our processes and decision-making, holding ourselves accountable to the communities we support. Trust is fundamental to our mission, and we strive to build it through openness and responsiveness.
Truth & reconciliation
calls to action
Street Cats YYC is deeply committed to advancing Indigenous social justice as a fundamental aspect of equity and inclusion. We recognize the historical and ongoing challenges faced by Indigenous communities, and we stand in solidarity with their pursuit of rights and recognition.
Our commitment encompasses actionable steps that aim to amplify Indigenous voices, honor ancestral traditions, and foster meaningful partnerships.
#1 - Child welfare: "We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to commit to reducing the number of aboriginal children in care by providing adequate resources to enable aboriginal communities to keep families together and children in culturally appropriate communities."
​#8 - education: "We call upon the federal government to eliminate the discrepancy in federal education funding for First Nations children educated on reserves compared with those off reserves."
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#22 - health: "We call upon those who can effect change within the Canadian health-care system to recognize the value of Aboriginal healing practices and use them in the treatment of Aboriginal patients in collaboration with Aboriginal healers and Elders where requested by Aboriginal patients.
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#14 - cultural preservation: "We call upon the federal government to enact an Aboriginal Languages Act that recognizes the urgency of preserving Aboriginal languages and cultures."
​#43 - reconciliation: "We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation."
