PROTESTERS UPSET WITH BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

In a show of support for the homeless and recovering addicts, a handful of
demonstrators wore signs outside the Abbotsford Downtown Business
Association office Wednesday morning.

Calling themselves "just a group of concerned citizens," the four also
offered a petition for passersby to sign that asks the City of Abbotsford
to approve the Salvation Army's plans to renovate some of its Cyril Street
facility into a shelter for up to 12 homeless people and a nine-bed
residential or "bridge" facility for recovering addicts.

"We're here in peaceful protest against comments made by Mary Reeves of the
Abbotsford Downtown Business Association. People are not snakes, and
addictions and poverty are not 'allergies'," said Natalie Uszkalo, who
works from her Essendene Street residence as a business coach.

They were reacting to comments Reeves made in an Abbotsford newspaper
earlier this week.

"I see the Salvation Army, the Alano club and the food bank operating every
day. I believe efforts to block any good work downtown would be crippling
to the area and to the people. People need help where it's needed, and it's
needed here. The community has to take responsibility for itself," said
Uszkalo.

In the past, Reeves, a spokeswoman for the ADBA, has compared housing
recovering addicts near pubs and illegal drugs to a person with milk
allergies going into an ice cream parlour. She has also said that having
recovering addicts near active users was like putting snakes into a snake
pit where they would multiply.

Reeves says ADBA members only want what is best for recovering addicts and
in the ADBA's view, what's best is to keep them away from the two hotels
downtown which serve alcohol and the easily accessible illegal drugs on the
old downtown streets. Reeves said there is "an enormous amount of confusion
over this issue.

"It's not a case of 'not in my backyard.' The ADBA have spent hours
deliberating this. The location is not right for this, just like SE2 (Sumas
Energy 2) is not right for the area. If we care at all about these people
we'll want to preserve them from it, not put them in the middle of it,"
said Reeves.

But two recovering addicts who volunteer at the Salvation Army say the
residence is desperately needed as a bridge back to normal life. After two
weeks in detox and several months stabilizing in a residential treatment
centre such as Kinghaven or Miracle Valley, it can be too much of a culture
shock to come back into the community, said Ed, an alcoholic and a
volunteer cook.

The residence would offer safety, structure, support and healthy
friendships, said David, a former sales man and alcoholic for 40 years.

"A facility like this will help the downtown business core, it won't hurt
it. They have to understand that," said David, who lived in the alleys of
Abbotsford when he bottomed out but now plans to attend university.

Ironically, men who come back to town after up to 12 months in a treatment
centre often can only afford to take a cheap room at the Fraser Valley Inn
or the Park Inn Hotel, right above the beer parlors. That undermines all
the efforts made to rehabilitate - the old friends, the old places, the old
temptations are all right there, Ed says.

Both men, who share homes with others recovering from addictions, say it's
the support that makes the difference, not the proximity to alcohol or drugs.

"If you're going to relapse, well, an alcoholic will walk 100 miles to get
a drink even if it's 40 below," said Ed, adding that getting dope is often
just a phone call away.

John McEwan, community ministries director for the Salvation Army, said
some people may be misinformed about the bridge centre, which is not a
treatment centre, but an affordable residence.

"It's a matter of carefully integrating the men back into the community, it
provides a gentle bridge. We're trying to give those people some dignity
and a chance to rebuild themselves, and they do," said McEwan.

The ADBA is pushing for a special zoning downtown bylaw that would ban
specific services, including drug treatment facilities. Reeves said she's
asked city officials to hold a public meeting to lay out the Army's plans.
The Army's proposal fits into either zoning scheme, said Jay Teichrob,
Abbotsford city's economic development officer.