FAMILIES SHOP FOR SITE TO HOUSE DRUG REHAB CENTRE

Members of the new Missing Women's Trust Fund board were in Maple Ridge
Thursday. They were window shopping.

They're looking for a home for a women's drug detox and rehabilitation
centre, and took time out this week to visit the recently vacated Thornhill
primary on 100 Avenue and 256 Street.

The MWTF group is made up mainly of family and friends of the missing
women. They meet daily at a healing tent that was erected near the entrance
of the Pickton farm - the site of a massive joint RCMP-Vancouver Police
murder investigation.

And now, instead of focusing their joint efforts on fighting with the
police to investigate the cases of missing women, many are concentrating on
a province-wide education and prevention program and development of a
residential women1s treatment centre, said Val Hughes, the new director of
development for MWTF.

We had been at the healing tent, working on the quilts and talking about
our storage needs and our housing needs for the residential healing centre
when someone noticed the Thornhill article (in the News). A small school in
Maple Ridge might be available at some time. We couldn1t resist a little
window shopping, Hughes said. You see, we are desperate for a large, quiet
space.

Hughes is a Maple Ridge woman whose 38-year-old sister Kerry Koski went
missing in January 1998. Hughes wishes such a facility had been available
for her sister, and so does Dorothy Purcell, who joined Hughes on the
sightseeing tour to Thornhill on Thursday.

Purcell lost her daughter Tanya Holyk in October 1996.

The pair are actually looking for a piece of property, somewhat remote and
peaceful, that could allow for 20 small but private bedrooms, large common
areas for eating, meetings and projects, as well as a garden.

It could be a large house, or it could be a building that can be renovated
to suit their purposes, said Hughes, pointing behind her to Thornhill
primary. Or it could simply be a piece of property where they could build a
home.

"We have these women (other women who are addicted and who have turned to
members of the MWTF for help) and we1d take anything right now to get them
started," Hughes said. Even if a temporary facility was available that
could house only 10 women, she said that would be a start.

MWTF is launching a series of fundraising efforts in the coming months. But
Hughes said they can't afford to wait to open a centre and take the chance
financing will stand in the way of saving someone's life.

"We're there. We're waiting. Please give us a house," she said. "I still
believe somebody will come forward. If the worst can happen, so can the best."

Anyone with a 'just such a facility' or ideas about a location can call
Hughes at 604-318-9611 or email Healingtent@hotmail.com

In future installments, learn details about the proposed women's drug detox
and rehabilitation centre, and hear from another local woman who has been
searching for her sister for since June 1997.