ADDICT HOUSE GOES AHEAD AFTER WINNING APPEAL

By the grace of God go I.

That was the sentiment behind naming a new Maple Ridge drug rehabilitation
home, set to open its doors on Feb. 1, signifying a greater power at work
in recovery.

Billy Weselowski, the executive director and cofounder of Innervisions
Recovery Society of B.C., said that's why he chose to name the facility
Hannah House - to show addicts they can overcome, as did the facility
itself after a lengthy court battle with residents.

"Hannah means by the grace of God, so all the trials and tribulations were
worth it," he said.

The home will house 10 beds for women dealing with drug addictions, staffed
by two workers during the day and one in the evening, and is based on
Weselowski's Innervisions program which has been rehabilitating drug
addicts for more than 10 years.

"Flat out, there's a desperate need," he said of the urgency to secure beds
solely for women. The last figures he had received from the health region
indicated to him there were 95 beds for men in the area, and only 18
allocated for women.

Hannah House, however, hasn't exactly been welcomed with open arms by
neighbouring residents concerned about the appropriateness of such a
facility in a residential area.

Heather Rajala, a former Dunbar Street homeowner and mother of two, made
the decision to sell her house and property after the courts approved
Hannah House just down the street.

"It wasn't the only factor that made us move, but it was one of them," she
said.

People living in the area attempted to stop the project by bringing the
case to Supreme Court, saying the rehab centre contravenes a restrictive
covenant, registered in the land titles' office by the people who developed
the land in the 1960s, which forbids businesses from setting up shop in the
area.

"We wanted to keep the covenant so that kids could still play street hockey
and have water fights in the streets," said Dunbar resident Lynn Currie,
making reference to the fact that when at least six people will be living
in the facility, plus staff, cars will have to park on the street. "I don't
know that our neighbourhood is a reasonable place to be putting such a
facility."

The residents won that case. But having already invested time, energy and
money into the location, Weselowski wasn't about to back down, bringing it
to the B.C. Court of Appeal for reconsideration.

The main obstacle was the wording of the restrictive covenant, which said
houses on those lands on Dunbar Street in Maple Ridge "shall not be used
for domestic habitation, and no industrial or commercial occupation,
business or enterprise" could be carried out.

The presiding justice, however, overturned the decision because the words
industrial and commercial applied as adjectives of occupation, business or
enterprise. He found that lawyers for Innervisions "pointed out, in
relation to occupation, that it cannot have been intended to prevent paid
housekeepers or paid nannies from helping out in the households of the 34
houses on Dunbar Street.

"I agree that that must be so. The fact that the appellant society has
three paid workers does not, through their payment, in my opinion, or
through the nature of their occupation, become an industrial or commercial
occupation_"

Last November, three Supreme Court justices found in favour of the appeal,
giving Weselowski the green light to open the doors to Hannah House.

"I'm really grateful, and I felt quite vindicated," he said about the
appeal outcome. "I think the neighbours reacted a bit quickly and got a bit
out of control.

"But now we can keep going. There are 100 women over the next year who are
going to have a chance because of this," he said.

Innervisions had already put in over $200,000 worth of renovations to the
house, so it would suit the use. "It's one of the most marquee houses in
the area."

He said Innervisions has received an operating grant from Human Resources
Development Canada, and will start with new clients the beginning of February.

Weselowski was extremely moved by the concern from community groups that
the project go through.

"It's been phenomenal, that we get such a response from Rotary of Port
Moody and Coquitlam Sunrise and Maple Ridge. This is the time when I'm most
proud to be a Rotarian. It moves me to tears, I'm really grateful."