(rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Troy Gillard

75 spaces

‘Recovery community’ for addiction treatment announced for Red Deer

Jul 18, 2020 | 1:17 PM

The provincial government is providing up to $5 million to build a recovery community in Red Deer, a move they say will add 75 addiction treatment beds in central Alberta.

The announcement is part of $25 million included in Alberta’s Recovery Plan to “support the construction of life-changing recovery communities, which will play a critical role in supporting the health, wellness and long-term recovery of Albertans.”

“Today’s announcement is a big step towards supporting Albertans in their goal of recovery,” said Premier Jason Kenney, who made the announcement Saturday outside of Red Deer City Hall. “These recovery communities are a continuation of our efforts at creating 4,000 addiction treatment spaces in the province and building a full continuum of care for people struggling with addiction.”

“Today’s announcement by the Government of Alberta responds to a long-standing critical health and social need in our community,” said Red Deer mayor Tara Veer. “The lives and well-being of our loved ones matter most of all, and this vital investment will significantly help our local addictions response by ensuring access to treatment for individuals and families affected by addictions in Red Deer and central Alberta.”

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Recovery communities, also known as therapeutic communities, are a form of long-term residential treatment for addiction. Over the course of six to 12 months program participants advance through the stages of treatment at their own pace, setting personal objectives and assuming greater responsibilities in the community along the way.

The province announced earlier this week that five recovery communities will be built across Alberta. It’s expected that all five facilities will be up and running by next spring.

The location for Red Deer’s facility has not been announced but the province is in the process of securing a 10-acre site in a non-residential area of the city’s north end. Mayor Veer said that acquisition is expected to be finalized within the next 10-14 days.

Meantime, no decision has been made at this time regarding the future of Red Deer’s temporary overdose prevention site, whose current grant funding is scheduled to expire in September.

Jason Luan, Alberta’s Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, said that while recovery is the main focus of the province’s approach to addiction treatment, harm reduction play a role moving forward.

“When we create a full continuum of care there will be many elements contributing to a role. But make no mistake, they don’t exist by themselves. They exist to contribute to this overall of we are helping people get out of addiction,” he explained.

“That doesn’t mean that the way you provide a service as it is today will naturally fit that (approach). Perhaps there will be some thought or consideration of how to realign that, how to tailor it, how to make the emphasis on helping people get out of addiction.”

“I don’t think there’s any compassion in telling people they don’t have moral agency. There’s no compassion in telling people that recovery isn’t really possible for them,” Premier Kenney said of the previous government’s approach. “There’s not much compassion in facilitating the destructive native of drug addiction. There is great compassion in offering a holistic alternative.”

Kath Hoffman with Safe Harbour Society said Saturday’s announcement was promising but that it needs to build on, not replace, the services already being provided in Red Deer.

“We want to make sure that that continuum of care they talked about continues to play out for people on the ground for people who are still actively using and not ready for recovery. We know that that connection is the most important thing we can do,” Hoffman said.

“Our connection with people is to make sure they can stay alive and make it to recover. Our reality is there are people walking around all the time that are actively using. We have to pay attention and make sure they are not ignored.”