Pubdate: Sat, 25 Mar 2017
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Ellen Brait
Page: GT2

HARM REDUCTION ADVOCATE STOOD UP TO INJUSTICE, 'WORKED UNTIL THE END'

She was especially proud of her work with students, broadening their
compassion

Holly Kramer, a force in the Toronto harm reduction field and a fierce
advocate for those affected by adoption, died on Sunday, at age 58,
after a battle with cancer, according to friends.

She is survived by her granddaughter, Taegan, her daughter, Caroline,
her birth mother, Janis, and her sisters, Maryann and Kellie.

Kramer was someone who "told it like it was" and stood up against
injustice, according to friends and colleagues.

"She was working until the end because it was important to her," said
Walter Cavalieri, founding director of the Canadian Harm Reduction
Network.

Kramer worked for Street Outreach Services from the late '90s until
2002, after which she became coordinator for the Toronto Harm
Reduction Task Force. After the task force ended, she became a member
of the Canadian Harm Reduction Network in 2013.

During that time, she co-ordinated the production of "two peer
manuals, a series of digital stories about harm reduction, a video
about methadone maintenance and one about responding to an overdose in
the workplace, a research project on the quality of services available
to people using drugs, material on how to maintain housing," and more,
according to Cavalieri.

She was especially proud, Cavalieri said, of her work with University
of Toronto students. Through the Centre for Community Partnerships,
Kramer taught students in the pharmacology and toxicology program
about harm reduction.

"She really made her mark with students in our program by broadening
their compassion or empathy for a community that they may not have had
much experience with," said Michelle Arnot, an associate professor in
pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Toronto. Arnot - who
taught one of the courses Kramer partnered with, which paired students
with harm reduction groups - said Kramer would regularly take on 10 or
12 students herself.

"She had a big heart and always made time for the students on top of
her regular job, who she was supervising out of pure volunteerism,"
Arnot said. "You can imagine the amount of time it took. She would
meet them at all places, at all hours. She also took a very personal
interest in all the students."

Rebecca Wolfe, co-ordinator of community development for the Centre
for Community Partnerships at U of T, said Kramer "dedicated her life
to this work and went so far above and beyond the call of duty."

"I think she's one of those people who wasn't recognized as much as
she could have been or should have been for all that she did," Wolfe
said.

Kramer's granddaughter, whom she raised, Taegan Perez, said Kramer
left the harm reduction field "in a better position."

"She was a very organized person and made a big difference in helping
that field get on its feet a bit more and taken a bit more seriously,"
she said.

Kramer's death is the second the Toronto harm reduction community has
experienced recently. Raffi Balian, co-ordinator of the South
Riverdale Community Health Centre's COUNTERfit Harm Reduction program,
died on Feb. 16.

"It's been an enormously difficult few weeks for the harm reduction
community," Cavalieri said. "These are two irreplaceable people who
have left. We can't replace them but we have to keep the work going."

Councillor Joe Cressy of Ward 20 will introduce a condolence motion
for Kramer at the next city council meeting. A condolence motion for
Balian will be introduced by Councillor Paula Fletcher, and seconded
by Cressy.
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MAP posted-by: Matt