IT'S THEIR DREAM TO BUILD DETOX

An Abbotsford committee that is working to develop a detox centre in
Abbotsford for girls 18 and under is now seeking more community involvement.

The members says the facility is long overdue in an area where programs for
drug-addicted young people are sorely lacking.

Chair Uultsje DeJong said the group, which calls itself DREAM (Discover,
Re-Energize And Move Forward), is focusing its efforts on girls because of
the risk involved in their turning to prostitution to support their habit.

DeJong said boys tend to turn to other crimes, such as break-and-enters.
Although this is still an important community concern, DeJong said the
group's initial focus is on protecting vulnerable females.

"We have girls on the street now, and some are 13 or 14 years old. They're
all somebody's daughter," he said.

The committee began meeting more than two years ago but has become more
focused in the last six months.

DeJong said the group has now reached the point where it is meeting with
other community organizations, such as Reconnect and the police board, to
garner their support. The next step - likely in the fall - will be meeting
with government officials to determine what funding options are available.

DREAM also has plans to do its own fund-raising, with the long-term goal of
establishing a centre with at least 10 beds.

DeJong acknowledges that it may be difficult to secure government support,
but he hopes that officials can look at the long-term outcome of getting
youth off drugs.

"They can say their resources are limited, but they need to have some
vision here - we need to look at the big picture," he said.

Currently, the only detox centres for those under the age of 19 are in
Burnaby (for girls) and New Westminster (for boys). The number of available
spots are limited, and the waiting lists are huge.

DeJong said the lack of services is deplorable.

"We have 1.3 million people in the Fraser Health region, and that's all we
have available for our youth?" he said.

DeJong said the project needs to become a community effort.

"Our problems are no greater or no less (than elsewhere); it's just that we
need to face that we have problems just like everybody else and put some
resources in place," he said.

The committee consists of about 10 people from different backgrounds. DREAM
was formed following a meeting about youth sexual exploitation. There was
some discussion regarding the link to drug use and prostitution, and the
lack of services available to deal with it. DeJong, a school trustee who
was working at the community police office at the time, was asked to head a
committee to discuss the problem further.

Among those who signed on was Korky Neufeld of the Abbotsford Christian
Leaders Network. He said the fact that he has a 13-year-old daughter was a
big factor in wanting to help out.

"It hit home for me ... (The detox centre) is just a drop in the bucket,
but it's a drop somewhere and we have to start somewhere," he said.

Coun. Lynne Harris, who previously served 15 years on the school board,
said supporting youth has always been important to her. She was eager to
assist on the committee.

"I thought it was a wonderful initiative and whatever I could do to support
this, I would do," she said.

Also on the committee is parent Deena Pankratz, who joined the group a
month ago. She has a 16-year-old daughter and was interested in helping
other teens who she said sometimes fall into situations that they never
imagined they would.

"I believe there are many people in our community who have good morals and
values and come from good families, and say, 'I would never get into
prostitution,' " Pankratz said.

"Even if it's just five or six people, it's better than saving nobody."

The committee, after much consideration, recently came up with the name of
DREAM as its title. DeJong said it was the one that best met their goals.

"One of the ideas behind DREAM is that every teenager has dreams and a lot
of times when they get into drugs they think their dreams will never come
true," he said.

"We want to give that back to them - to say they can have their dreams
again and move forward and have happy and productive lives."

Anyone who wants to join the committee or offer support in other ways is
asked to contact DREAM by sending an e-mail to uultsje_dejong@sd34.bc.ca