ADDICTS GET NEW SCHOOL PROGRAM

The Phoenix Society and Kwantlen University College have teamed up to
help recovering addicts improve their education.

The agreement, five years in the making, was signed earlier this
month. The two organizations will work together to assess the
education needs of Phoenix clients and help them acquire the learning
they need to improve their employment prospects or continue with
trades and post-secondary education.

"Our clients will be able to get their GED or complete their basic
adult education so they have the required skills to improve their
lives," said Phoenix executive director Michael Wilson. "The
immediate thing is we have a school program."

The program will be run from a classroom and computer lab in the
society's new building on 94 A Avenue, just behind Surrey Memorial
Hospital. The $11 million Phoenix Centre, opened in April, provides
drug and alcohol addiction counselling, recovery beds and
transitional housing along with a host of programs aimed at
reintegrating its clients into society.

"This is very exciting," Wilson said.

"I think of it as education for and in the community."