ADDICTS NEED GROUP HOME

John Howard Society Is Still Struggling To Find A Location For The
Community Program

The John Howard Society is struggling to find a Nanaimo building
suitable for setting up a therapeutic community, where recovering
addicts would live together communally while operating a construction
company to pay the bills.

An apartment-style residence on Haliburton Street was eyed by the
organization as a potential spot for the project, but funding from
B.C. Housing fell through after an assessment showed it would require
too much in upgrades to make it economically viable, said France
Tellier, director of programs for the Nanaimo John Howard Society.

"We were really optimistic for a while, we thought we might make it
for this year, but it didn't happen," said Tellier. "They (B.C.
Housing) were willing to support us, but it comes back to us not
having a proper location."

The ideal facility would house about 30 people. Based on the
"therapeutic community" model, the program aims to provide people
facing addictions with an affordable method of staying sober beyond
the standard 28-day recovery program while also providing them with
job skills. Residents in the program would be a mix of locals and
people from other B.C. communities.

The society has looked at several other locations, including a few
motels, but so far nothing fits the bill.

"So we're kind of in limbo," said Tellier.

The society also ruled out using any of the schools slated for
closure in Nanaimo for the project, since it would cost far too much
to upgrade them so they would be suitable for residences.

Scaling plans down to involve just a house also isn't an option, said
Tellier, since there would have to be enough residents earning
revenue to make the project viable.

Balancing community wishes and the residents' need to be close to
services is another challenge, but so far the society hasn't
encountered any opposition since the Daily News first reported on the
story in March.

"We never received any negative feedback. Nobody said 'you'd better
not be doing that in our neighbourhood,'" said Tellier.

A smaller-scale therapeutic community in Vancouver -- called Welcome
Home -- similar to the one proposed for Nanaimo was quietly set up in
a house without notifying residents, according to Bill Koona, one of
the directors there. Now, the program is experiencing a backlash as
it tries to expand.

"We wouldn't take it in that direction, you need the community
consultation," said Tellier. "We can't just move in."