ONLY A SHORT WAIT

Re: Crack pipe program vital, advocates tell mayor, March 9.

I want to inform the community about the availability of quality,
successful addiction treatment that does not have a six-week waiting list.

The Ottawa Mission's Addiction Services have a multitude of programs
aimed at the same target population. We have a drop-in program,
called the day program, that operates in two-week cycles. It is
intended for men and women looking for a "taste" of treatment before
committing to longer-term therapy.

We have a 30-day residential stabilization program for men awaiting
treatment in the community. Completion of the stabilization program
makes men eligible for our five-month residential treatment program
known as Lifehouse. Graduates of this phase enter our aftercare
program and can access continued individual counselling for a further
18 months. Sixty per cent of our graduates are sober in the community
today and our program has a wait-list time of less than two weeks.

Troy Thompson

Ottawa

Ottawa Mission