Westminster House is hopeful that its longtime dream of helping teens will come true.
The local organization already operates a residential recovery program for women healing from addiction, but hopes to offer a residential recovery program for up to four young women aged 16 to 18.
“Westminster House is reaching out to our youth,” said Susan Hogarth, executive director. “We are trying to get them early enough, so when they are 50 they are not knocking on our doors.”
Hogarth said Westminster House regularly fields phone calls from families in search of a recovery program for young women. It currently has 12 teens on a waiting list.
“They are under so much pressure and stress,” she said of families of teens dealing with addiction. “They don’t know what to do.”
The Last Door Recovery Society, which has operated a youth program for males in New Westminster for a decade, would mentor Westminster House with its teen program.
“We have been lucky to acquire a house in close proximity to what we are doing here. We are going to do a really small, pretty, cozy youth program. I am so excited,” Hogarth said. “It will be similar to Westminster House, but it’s not going to be able to be funded right away because Fraser Health has declined purchasing any beds. That means the families will need to pay for the treatment.”
In addition to funding from Fraser Health for 14 beds at Westminster House, which means the women don’t have to pay for the program, Hogarth said the organization must also raise $350,000 a year to provide services to women in an abstinence-based environment. While Westminster House has received support from donors for its new youth program, it will continue to pursue funding from Fraser Health.
Hogarth said the details of the program are still being fleshed out, but it will include group meetings and opportunities for home-schooling and community service.
“It’s a community-based social model,” she said of the society’s program. “You have to have friends. You need to be community. You have to have citizenship to recover.”
New Westminster city council will consider a temporary use permit for 620 Third Ave., which allows the program to be offered for three years, with an option to renew at the end of that time. Council will consider issuance of the permit after giving community members a chance to speak at its July 9 meeting.
Mayor Jonathan Cote said Westminster House and other organizations do such a good job of integrating into neighbourhoods that people often don’t even know they’re there.
“To me that’s a sign of a well-run organization that they can fit into a neighbourhood. We have seen the huge challenge with addiction problems and the fentanyl crisis. I think cities need to do their role to be able to support places that are actively working towards getting people towards recovery.”
