CARING PEOPLE TAKE LEAD DEALING WITH DOWNTOWN PROBLEMS

THE EDITOR:

I attended the town hall meeting on April 10, sponsored by the Abbotsford
Coalition for Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment.

There was good community representation by the panelists and each offered
the language of community building and collaboration: Uultje De Jong,
Abbotsford Coalition for Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment; Const. Denys
Scully, Integrated Services Team; Mary Reeves, Abbotsford Downtown Business
Association; Fiona Brett, Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce; Lucie Honey-Ray,
Abbotsford Coalition For Social Development; and Josie Kane, Abbotsford
Community Services.

I was extremely pleased with the air of co-operation and the willingness to
be solution oriented rather than focus on the multitude of problems
associated with drug use in our community.

The 50 or so individuals in attendance, representing community groups,
social service providers, businesses, municipal government and individual
citizens, all expressed agreement that a detox centre is a priority for our
community.

Even more impressive was the commitment made by at least 30 of those in
attendance to collaborate and work toward the creation of a suitable and
sustainable plan for a detox centre in our community.

There was great energy in the room and much talk of the practicalities of
raising money for such a project.

It was extremely heartening to witness and be part of such positive
community building. It was agreed that we, as a community, must take
responsibility for ourselves and be willing to work together and do what
needs to be done for the betterment of our community.

That is what we intend to do, and I encourage everyone to participate.

Janet Tomayer, Abbotsford