BRAVE is a co-operative business in the Strathcona neighbourhood, adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. As it says on their website, BRAVE creates technology that “connects people with community supporters when they’re alone and at risk of overdose. Anonymous and private, these tools can keep you safe(r) from overdose, wherever you are, whenever you need it.”

Shawna Blomskog and Mario Cimet both work at the co-op. They spoke to The Pulse about the products they’ve created: the BRAVE button, the BRAVE phone app, and the BRAVE sensor. The BRAVE button “...connects to somebody that has the ability to respond,” allowing someone alone in their room can call for help. The BRAVE app is installed on a user’s phone so that, “if something goes wrong,...if you overdose, you can have basically details of a rescue plan that...you put into the app ahead of time, and that are then shared with...your supporter.” And the BRAVE sensor senses motion in, say, a public washroom, and alerts someone if motion suddenly stops. “...it's driven by the same goal of detecting overdoses that would otherwise go unnoticed or unwitnessed.”