NEW HOPE FOR DRUG ADDICTS

Drug and alcohol addicts in Western Canada now have a new option to
help them in their recovery.

Baldy Hughes Therapeutic Community officially opened Monday. The
addictions recovery community is based on a former air force base on
Blackwater Road, 40 km southwest of Prince George.

Vancouver-Burrard MLA Lorne Mayencourt was the driving force behind
the innovative addictions recovery community, which is based on the
community of San Patrignano, Italy.

"It's been a leap of faith. I'm really glad it's happening,"
Mayencourt said. "There is great things happening here."

Since 1978, recovering addicts have lived and worked in San
Patrignano. While there, they develop job skills, life skills,
self-reliance, a sense of dignity and community, Mayencourt said.

Residents stay for three years or more - as opposed to conventional
addictions recovery programs which last about six weeks. University
studies have shown 72 per cent of residents who complete the program
stay drug-free and 71 per cent end up working in the field they
trained in there.

Currently 1,700 people live at San Patrignano, which is funded
entirely by private donations and the profits of its own industries.

Baldy Hughes is the first recovery community of its kind in North America.

Mayencourt raised the private funds to open the centre and brought
the first four residents there on Dec. 2.

"Right now we've got eight people in here and are bringing in four
more this week," Mayencourt said. "From that point on we'll bring in
12 people a month. We'll probably be at 150 by the end of this year."

Residents will come for a 30-day orientation, then will work with
staff to decide if they want to sign an agreement to stay for three
years, he said. The eventual goal is to have 500 residents living and
working in the community.

The first residents will be working on renovating the buildings on
site and building furniture to house future generations of residents, he said.

"We've contacted an electrician from Prince George who's going to
take on two [residents] as apprentices," he said. "What we're looking
to do is not have people do the work for us, but to teach people how
to do it. What these guys need to learn is how to be self-sufficient."

Mayencourt is still working to find private donations to make the
community work.

"We're going to need $1.5 million this year," he said. "[But] over
the course of the next first three years we hope to earn 50 per cent
form our industries and work."

Baldy Hughes executive director Jaret Clay said the community will be
working with social agencies in Prince George to deliver services to
its residents.

"Right now we're trying to focus on people who have been clean for a
bit of time. The ideal candidate would have been through treatment,
but wants help staying clean. Here you have a place to practice what
you learned in treatment in a safe environment," Clay said. "Our hope
is to eventually bring detox on site. But we would need medical
supports in place to do that."

Peer support worker and recovery addict Robert Marwick appeared proud
of the facility and what it's residents have achieved in a short
period of time as he toured visiting media around the site.

"We've got quite a good deal here," Marwick said. "There used to be
300 people on base and another 200 who came in from town. [And] it
was just sitting here practically empty."

The site includes a well-appointed lounge, dining hall, two-lane
bowling alley, curling rink, outdoor skating rink, ski hill,
cross-country skiing trails, full-size gymnasium, class rooms,
dorm-style housing, carpentry shop, mechanical garage, fire hall and
campgrounds.

Marwick came to Baldy Hughes from a recovery centre in Vancouver.

"We were doing outreach to people in sleeping in doorways in
Vancouver. The big cities have so many resources for people who have
addictions." he said. "[But] the biggest thing about this place is it
gives people a sense of purpose. Most of us had nothing to feel proud
about when we were addicts. I like seeing people change day by day,
that's my new high."

Resident Ken Young said the group support from his peers made the
difference for him.

"It's great here - just what we need," Young said.

A resident who asked not to be named said hearing about Baldy Hughes
was what made him decide to seek treatment.

"I'm the first Prince George resident that was brought out here. I
saw a documentary on San Patrignano on CBC awhile ago. I thought
since this is based on that, I'd try it. I detoxed out here," he
said. "I was involved in the local drug trade for 12 years. I got
sick of being sick."

He said his parents knew he had a heroin problem for years, but
didn't know how to help him.

"Sobriety - to be drug free. That's all our goals," he said. "I'm
trying to get some skills to stay away from drugs."

Another resident said he has struggled to stay clean for 35 years.

"I'd been on a run for the last four years. You spend all your money,
then you start doing things that normally you wouldn't do to keep
your addiction going," he said. "I reached a point where I realized
I've got to do something or end up dead or in jail."

Fifteen years ago he tried a rehab facility in New Westminister, but
struggled to stay away from drugs.

"It was only a six-week thing. It's not a long enough period," he
said. "[And] I'd leave the rehab and in five minutes I was down by
the Skytrain station and could get any drugs at a real cheap price.
You get these sudden urges, but it it's not available it passes."

For more information, contact the facility at 250-964-3136.