ADDICTIONS CENTRE COULD OPEN BY LATE FALL

Mobile prevention services will be offered to Chilliwack's IV-drug
addicted community in the interim until plans for a new broad-based
facility are solidified this fall.

Tom Hetherington, addictions program manager for Pacific Community
Resources Society, pledges to rebuild local addiction programming with
solid input from community stakeholders.

"If an alcohol and drug strategy for Chilliwack is to be successful,
we have to get everyone on board," he says.

"Some of the folks were upset about the previous location...I think we
need to work with them to find a location that's good for everybody."

These plans tend to work better with "a high degree of buy-in" from
community members, Hetherington says.

The location of the addiction services became an issue with two
different spaces becoming a concern for some business owners and
residents in the past year.

Now Fraser Valley Connection Services has merged into the wider
spectrum of services offered by PCRS.

Program head Sam Mohan will now be coordinator of Pacific Connection
Services, which is one of 28 programs that PCRS offers.

"I think the problem that developed over the (former Connection's)
location was a result of not being able to find a balance between
community needs, and those of the addicted population," Hetherington
says. "We know the need is there, and we know there's an acceptable
way to find a balance in Chilliwack. We want to rebuild."

The process will include public input and the plan will be in place
this fall, he says.

"We need time to develop it, and these things can't be rushed," says
Hetherington.

One issue he raises is the myth that addicts are travelling in large
numbers from other communities to take advantage of Chilliwack's
needle exchange program.

"I don't think that's true. People involved in IV injection drugs can
live anywhere, but typically they won't travel too far for (these
services)," he says. "That's why we need to do outreach in the community."

The data he's seen on the local program indicates that about 80 per
cent of the Connection clients are local residents of Chilliwack.

That's one of the areas that PCRS staff can research in their attempt
to identify and implement best practices around harm reduction. He
says step one of the community development process will be more
discussion and awareness raising.

"We want to take the emotion out of this and look at the outcomes," he
says. "We want to keep people off drugs so how do we do that? We'll
continue to move ahead and design a system that tries to meet those
outcomes."

Hetherington emphasizes that "although the needle exchange services
are the most high profile," of late they're not the only
addictions-oriented work going on. There's a whole continuum of care,
of which needle exchange is only one component.

There's some strong prevention work being done around HIV/AIDs and
other blood-borne diseases like hepatitis, he offers.

"In direct medical costs, if the program prevents just one person from
becoming HIV positive, it more than pays the budget for two years,"
Hetherington adds.

Overall he's says he's been impressed over the years watching how the
community of Chilliwack "pulls together" to help its more needy citizens.

PCRS will play a leadership role in the community development process,
which will include stakeholders like residents, RCMP, businesses and
more.

A contact centre for the community's addicted populations could be
open by late fall if things fall into place.

"It would be a place for people who are marginalized, on the street as
well as those in the early stages of recovery, in methadone programs,
and in needle exchange programs," he adds. "There are different levels
of addiction and different levels of needs."