DRUG TREATMENT CENTRE PRAISED

Lt.-Gov. Iona Campagnolo praised the community of Abbotsford for the
commitment and faith that led it to the Friday afternoon dedication
ceremony of the new $3.5 million Peardonville House, a residential drug
treatment centre for women.

"This is a multiple-level centre that is dedicated to reclaiming all those
precious people who may otherwise have been lost to your community. You
contribute to reinforcing the family base in society which of course makes
our country strong," Campagnolo said.

The opening was attended by about 100 local dignitaries, former and current
staff, supporters and sponsors and past residents.

Set in the country, the centre has private but modest rooms for 16 women
and nine children.

Peardonville House contains offices for staff, including a doctor who
visits once a week, a bright, cheery daycare, a commercial kitchen, two
large halls, a dining hall and lounge areas.

The landscaped interior courtyard is green and peaceful and, from there,
grazing cows on the neighbouring farm are visible.

In the hallways, children's art hangs on the wall, as well as art from
local artists.

There is a two-to four-month waiting time to get into Peardonville House.

Once there, the women receive an intense 10-week program including 12-step
group and private counselling models, and life skills training that
addresses anger management, assertiveness, exercise, eating disorders and
communications.

Clients must attend the early morning breakfast and, when not in
counselling, they attend to their chores around the centre or their homework.

After the program they may go on to recovery centres or are referred to
outpatient counselling elsewhere in the community.

"It's as balanced and holistic an approach as I think you can get," said
Cass Button, a certified drug and alcohol counsellor at Peardonville House
for 13 years.

"It's actually good for anybody but you have to be an addict to come here."

Backgrounds of clients vary - they may have a Grade 3 education or a
university degree, be as young as 19 or as old as 74, said Cass.

Among the many successful clients are two school principals and a social
worker, executive director Milt Walker told the reception crowd.

Peardonville House is operated by the Valley Recovery Support Association,
which also oversees Kinghaven in Abbotsford, opened in 1971 to treat up to
51 men.

Peardonville House for women was opened in 1987 in the original 1880s-era
Peardonville school and several portable trailers.

The program was immediately successful and was soon chosen by the
provincial government to host a pilot program that would allow women in
treatment to bring their preschool-aged children to the centre.

That, too, was successful and is a key component to the holistic approach
at the centre.

"Many of these women wouldn't come here if they couldn't bring their
children," said Button.

More than 2,000 women have passed through the doors of Peardonville since
it first opened, said Walker.

The many sponsors of Peardonville House are listed on a large plaque in the
foyer, including the Abbotsford Foundation, the Vancouver Foundation, the
B.C. Lion's Club, Matsqui-Abbotsford Rotary, Fraser Valley Homebuilders'
Association, Clayburn Industries, the Peardon family and many others.

Campagnolo was presented with a Dean Lauze print of a mother and child
drifting peacefully to sleep, an image that is replicated in the main foyer
of Peardonville House.