Kerstin Heuer, business owner and one of the organizers of Stand Up For a Safe Community, is hoping to unite members of the community on the overdose crisis, among other issues in the City.

“I’m very concerned, I care about people and I care about Red Deer – and I see these different issues which are very complex,” she said.

Heuer added that she’s also spoken with other business owners in the downtown who are also concerned about their customers.

“I’m also a parent and I’m concerned about our kids.”

And so, Heuer, with a group of other Red Deerians, came together in hopes of bringing change.

The website, titled standup-now.ca, lists off some key issues, including people dying of overdose, needles on the ground, people using all around the community and more.

“We started this with 100 concerned citizens and they came from different walks of life and we all thought that from our different perspectives that the solution is missing,” said Heuer.

“With our voices we want to confirm that this is an urgent issue.”

With the website only being live for a few weeks, there’s already been thousands of signatures.

Heuer said that the City should build a place for people who are actively using to have somewhere to go and live.

“We need a place where they can live, store their belongings and access safe consumption and other health services.”

She added that she wants to gather community voices and provide this to the Mayor and City council, RCMP, the Federal Government, Alberta Health Services and more.

“We want to work together with them. We would like to use this to show that there are many concerned citizens out here. It’s more about raising the awareness.”

For more information visit https://standup-now.ca/