DRUG REHAB FACILITY TO OPEN ON RICHTER

An 18-bed transition house opens on Richter Street today providing a
place for homeless men struggling with addiction to re-establish a
life.

Structured as a fourplex, the $1.43 million facility offers a bed in a
safe home for those who have been on the street and been through
counselling to achieve abstinence from drugs or alcohol.

The home will also be open to those suffering from mental illness who
are able to function on medication, according to the Society of St.
Vincent de Paul of Central Okanagan, the visionaries behind the project.

"We've been planning this home for five years," said society president
Lesley Atwell.

"We've had some funding over the years for developing our program, but
B.C. Housing has come through with the capital funding."

Some $1.36 million of the project will be funded through the
Provincial Homelessness Initiative under B.C. Employment and Income
Assistance.

A small grant of $30,672 annually to help offset the costs of running
the building will also be given to the nonprofit society each year,
administered through B.C. Housing.

The Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia also pitched $70,000
into the project and Theresa Eichler, past governor of the foundation
and city housing manager, will be on hand for today's opening on their
behalf.

Asked if Kelowna is likely to see more of these projects, Eichler was
positive.

"This is the focus of B.C. Housing right now. They're focusing on
housing the homeless so you will likely see this sort of thing being
funded by the province," she said, adding that the funding will be
province-wide so Kelowna will have to vie for the money with other
communities.

This new building, called Ozanam House, will be a boarding
facility--substantially different from the 30-unit transitional
housing facility which has generated controversy on St. Paul Street.

Unlike that facility, St. Vincent de Paul Society will also be using
an abstinence-based approach, meaning those who move in cannot drink
or do any drugs; those who don't comply will be asked to leave.

"We don't feel able to deal with people who are using drugs," said
Atwell.

"We want to create a safe home where all people feel comfortable so
that we don't create a home where there's stress."

Counselling services for residents of the house will be contracted out
to the community.

St. Vincent de Paul has been operating in Kelowna for less than 20
years through various churches, but only incorporated as a society
this year in order to commit to this project.

The provincial government will provide approximately 15 per cent of
the home's annual operating funds and another 20 per cent is expected
to come in from the community in funds raised by the society. The rest
will come from the clients who use the facility, primarily from income
assistance cheques.

According to the city's Housing Resources Handbook, the beds will fill
a much needed niche in the community.