Our community, even amongst its growth and it’s strengths, is in crisis. More people are experiencing homelessness than ever, and while many of them are families who can’t make ends meet, a small but visible portion of them are dealing with opioid addiction. Beyond that, people who still have homes are struggling with opioid addiction, creating a life at risk of homelessness, among other things.

Our city and county do not currently have enough resources to care for our most vulnerable in this opioid crisis, and yet major corporations have made billions of dollars getting people addicted to those same opioids. We are at a point where our leaders must take a stand or risk our community not being able to come back from this.

Recently, Ty took a stand. He urged the council to allow the city to participate in the joint litigation that has been filed by municipalities in the state of Washington, and council agreed. Ty has expressed hope that any money recovered would be used towards treatment programs in our county.

To read more about the opioid crisis and what role the city, and Ty, are playing in solving it, be sure to read this article from The Columbian on 10/4/19: Vancouver sues opioid producers, suppliers.