Advancing Support for Individuals Living with Substance Use Disorder

In the fall of 2024, the Community Addictions Peer Support Association (CAPSA) established the Jasna Sonicki CAPSA Memorial Bursary Fund at Carleton University, in honour of Jasna Sonicki, her advocacy work, and her commitment to advancing support for individuals living with substance use disorder.

Jasna passed away in June of 2024, just after her 61st birthday, at home with her husband Gord Garner by her side. Reflecting her lifelong commitment to helping others, Jasna wanted to carry forward her legacy by providing support for those studying neuroscience and mental health, with a focus on the intersection with substance use health. Her life and personal experiences played an integral role in her motivations and passion for supporting individuals living with substance use disorder (SUD).

Growing up in a home with SUD drove Jasna’s curiosity and compassion for further understanding the complexities of the neuroscience behind this condition, and how to provide meaningful support to those experiencing it.

Jasna was an ally and partner to Gord, who took on the role of CAPSA’s first volunteer Executive Director. Throughout the rest of their lives together, Jasna had an unwavering dedication to CAPSA’s mission of eliminating stigma around substance use disorders and shining a light on the neurobiology and neuroscience behind it.

“Jasna was a consistent organizer and volunteer with CAPSA for years. More importantly, as my life partner, she supported me emotionally and in all my efforts with CAPSA because the work was also meaningful to her,” says Garner.

In January 2025, Carleton’s Department of Neuroscience welcomed Gord, Jasna’s friends, members of CAPSA, and donors to campus to remember Jasna and honour the legacy she will leave through this award.

Gord says their hope is that the impact of the memorial bursary will go beyond Carleton students and campus – and help create positive change in the field of neuroscience.

“We can get answers through neuroscience, through the understanding of trauma and its physiological impacts. This bursary will help open doors for compassion for ourselves and others – while recognizing at the same time the reason we’re studying substance use disorder is because it can have harmful effects,” says Garner.

Since 2019, Carleton University and CAPSA have partnered together in spearheading various mental health initiatives on campus – with a shared goal of improving the lives of those impacted by substance use disorders. When establishing the bursary, Garner says Carleton University was the right place to do it.

“We are very fortunate that CAPSA and Carleton have had a strong relationship in the past. Carleton expedited the establishment of the bursary, so Jasna got to see it established during her lifetime,” says Garner.

Patrick Dion, President of CAPSA & member of Carleton’s Board of Governers, says this partnership reflects the relationship Jasna had not only with the two organizations but with the work they are doing surrounding neuroscience.

“Jasna’s work and support of CAPSA is one of those rare moments where the head and the heart meet in a place where magic happens. And the magic is in the students’ hands – students have committed to pushing the boundaries of neuroscience in a way that will better the lives of those living with substance use disorders,” says Dion.

The Jasna Sonicki CAPSA Memorial Bursary Fund will support Carleton University graduate students pursuing studies in neuroscience and mental health and will be open to student applications for the 2025-2026 academic year. More information about Jasna’s legacy and the bursary can be found at FutureFunder.ca. Garner says her memory will continue to inspire positive change and leave a lasting impact.