‘Fresh Start’ coming for clients of Lethbridge Recovery Community
By Lethbridge Herald on April 29, 2023.
The newly finished Lethbridge Recovery Community facility is adding 50 beds to the addiction treatment capacity of the area and will begin accepting residents in the coming months.
Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-GuzmanAlejandra Pulido-Guzman – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – apulido@lethbridgeherald.com
A couple of weeks short of the one-year anniversary of the groundbreaking ceremony, construction of the Lethbridge Recovery Community is now complete.
During a media event at the facility on Friday morning, Minister of infrastructure and MLA for Lethbridge East, Nathan Neudorf said the brand new 50-bed facility will begin accepting clients in the coming months once clinically ready.
“This new residential addiction treatment facility will increase the number of treatment beds in Lethbridge and area by more than 50 per cent, providing more people with the improved access to long-term recovery right here in Lethbridge,” said Neudorf.
He announced that the Lethbridge Recovery Community will be operated by Fresh Start recovery centre.
“Fresh Start is a valued and dedicated community partner with extensive experience in providing addiction treatment both in Calgary and right here in Lethbridge,” said Neudorf.
He said recovery communities are an important part of the Alberta government’s recovery-oriented systems of care model for mental health and addiction supports and services.
“While the recovery-oriented system encompasses many components, recovery communities have a significant role. At the Lethbridge Recovery Community clients will be able to live here and participate in full-time programming for up to a year and beyond as needed. This intensive approach can help an individual make meaningful progress in their journey towards recovery and start firms firmly establishing a new way of life,” said Neudorf.
He said a recovery community is being built on the Blood Tribe First Nation, which will also enhance access to treatment in this region.
“The Blood tribe facility is currently out for construction RFP, while design is ongoing with our partners on the Blood Tribe. Construction on that site will begin later this year,” said Neudorf.
He said these two recovery communities in southern Alberta will increase the addiction treatment capacity by 125 beds, all of which will be fully funded with no user fees.
“Together these recovery communities will give thousands of more people from across our province the opportunity to pursue recovery from addiction, and most importantly give them hope,” said Neudorf.
He said the new facility will be used for serving men in the community, while the existing facility will be serving women.
“It just helps programming to keep the two programs separate,” said Neudorf.
Executive director of Fresh Start recovery centres, Bruce Holstead said they are excited to partner with the government of Alberta, as this experience further validates the commitment this government shares with them in providing the best possible care to the Albertans they serve.
“The building you see will allow our organization to provide a holistic approach to treating addiction, it will provide an environment in which we can build on a proven model contributing to recovery-oriented systems of care,” said Holstead.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen said that while this project represents a beautiful new building, jobs for the construction industry and new jobs for staff at the facility, it offers something so much more – hope for many people who will use the facility.
“It offers a path to the hope of a better life. Whenever I visit and meet the participants they speak of the opportunity that these types of facilities offer; they made a commitment to the recovery. We honour and respect that commitment by giving them the tools to succeed,” said Hyggen.
He said it would not happen without the provincial government’s commitment to recovery-based treatment.
“In our area, this facility is one of those tools, if not the biggest. A roof over their head, good food, exercise facility, counselling programs, and furthermore encouragement. It all adds up to the chance that they are looking for,” said Hyggen.
He said he has attended many graduations of Fresh Start recovery program both here and in Calgary and is looking forward to attending the first graduation from the new facility.
“I can’t emphasize enough, this is long overdue and I want to thank the provincial government for their works. Recovery does work. These facilities will make all that difference to help those that are struggling through addictions. I can’t emphasize enough the appreciation I have and our community has for the provincial government in bringing these facilities to reality,” said Hyggen.
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24-23
Let’s get it open and get this people treated please! Let’s get more beds under construction for this province and stop dumping money into bandaid programs that only burn up funds while enabling addicts to slowly kill themselves.
The biggest example of where not to fund is in Vancouver DTES where the first safe injection site opened in 2003, and from there the Non-Profits blossomed into a billion dollar a year industry, while fatal overdoses, numbers of addicts, homelessness and crime continued to rise.
If all that money would have been put into effective treatment programs we would not be losing over 4,000 lives per year and we would not be seeing the high crime rates and homelessness since a high percentage there are caused by the addiction.
I agree. Housing low/med./hi acuity (meaning they still shot up)substance abusers is a bandaid. Plus it does nothing to distance from drug dealers.
This facility is out of the city. It may not have the problem of some other treatment centers that have had staff who themselves are dealers.