Harmony Centre Home to Awareness Programme That Saves Lives Province-wide

Harmony Centre interviews Matt Evans on reviving OSAID in Grey-Bruce. Learn about Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving and efforts to rebuild local chapters.

REPRINTED - by Lorraine Campbell

I enjoyed meeting with Matt Evans, one of the first ‘residents’ at Harmony Centre. Harmony Centre uses the term ‘resident’ to describe the folks who base themselves out of the many studios available for rent. I was interested in meeting with him and learning about his organization: OSAID – Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving.

Lorraine: Can you tell me a little about yourself?

Matt: As a teenager, I was involved in Katimavik, a programme that engages youth through volunteer community service work. The programme sparked my interest in working with youth and with community projects.

Lorraine: Can you tell me what OSAID is about?

Matt: The mission of OSAID is to impower youth to eliminate impaired driving. It is a student-led, peer-to-peer charity that helps to develop valuable leadership skill in teenage volunteers. OSAID tackles a critical issue – impaired driving, the number one criminal cause of death and injury among youth. Although impaired driving is an old known issue for adults, it is a NEW concept for teens since they are entering that area for the first time.

Lorraine: How did OSAID begin?

Matt: In the mid 1980s teachers, police officers, and students were realizing that the reason so many students were being injured or dying was because they were in a car - and they’d been out partying, and drinking, and then driving. The evidence was found in the memorial pages in high school yearbooks and road statistics collected by the government. Conversations started in Gananoque and soon spread.

In the 1990s, I was hired as provincial co-ordinator. Over the next decade, OSAID grew from 50 chapters to 500 chapters due to the efforts of one staff (me) and over 5000 volunteers. Students, teachers, volunteers, police, public health, and many civic-minded people were all involved.

There were regional workshops and national conferences with motivational speakers and leadership training for the youth. The result? There was a 51% decline in youth impaired driving, a faster decline than in any other age group in the province.

This programme ran successfully with provincial chapter numbers in the hundreds, until the pandemic caused a drop in the number of groups due to the change in schooling routines. Now there are only 40 provincial chapters, and consequently student injuries and deaths due to impaired driving have risen over the past few years.

Lorraine: How are you addressing this lack of a local chapter?

Matt: Grey/Bruce County once had an OSAID chapter at practically every school. Now, there are only a few schools that are active. We have tried everything – but it really takes a teacher or student to step up and say, “I am going to promote awareness around this issue at our school”. We still need to get the message out.

Lorraine: How will you go about finding the support you need?

Matt: May 15, 2025 has been designated as SAID DAY. This project won the provincial initiative of the year by the Ministry of Transportation. SAID Day encourages schools, businesses, and community organizations to participate. The first 40 schools to sign up get free T-shirts and awareness-raising swag. It would be wonderful if we can find a principal, a teacher, or a student willing to start a chapter in Owen Sound.

Lorraine: How can we find out more or get involved?

Matt: For more information about OSAID, to get involved, to find activities and resources, or for information on what schools, business, or community organizations can do, go to www.osaid.ca.

Resident Profiles is a series of articles by Harmony Centre board member Lorraine Campbell. Each month, Lorraine will write about the people and the community groups that make this remarkable facility what it is today.