Wednesday March 19, 2025 | VIEW ROYAL, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
A new recovery centre to support women living with or moving on from substance abuse challenges opened earlier this month in View Royal.
Today Health Minister Josie Osborne toured the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community centre. She was accompanied by local MLA Nina Kreiger (Victoria-Swan Lake) who also serves as the Parliamentary Secretary for Arts and Film.
Osborne noted the years of work by current MLA Grace Lore and former MLA Mitzi Dean for their contributions to supporting women with challenges in society. She also acknowledged support from Jim Hartshorne of Keycorp Developments.
A few local municipal leaders attended, including Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto, Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi, and Colwood Councillor David Grove.
About the centre:
More women living with substance-use challenges on Vancouver Island can benefit from more options to help them with their recovery through 20 newly opened substance-use treatment beds in Victoria.
These new 20 beds bring the total number of beds announced and open to 163 of 180.
“One of the most important moments in a person’s recovery journey is the moment they ask for help,” said Osborne.
“When they do, it is essential that compassionate and effective care is available. This new recovery centre will change lives by helping more women on Vancouver Island get the right care and support, and is a vital step in strengthening mental-health and substance-use services across BC,,” she told media today who also followed her on a tour of the facility after the formal announcement.
The New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community treatment and recovery centre is a 20-bed facility that provides women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people who have experienced long-standing challenges with addiction, incarceration and housing instability with holistic care and a supportive community, so they can begin their healing journey.
Clients can stay as long as two years, offering the stability they need to rebuild their lives and break the cycle of addiction.
Funding:
In January 2024 the BC government announced $88 million in operational funding to support 188 beds in various locations.
This year’s provincial budget has $500 million for continued mental health and substance use supports, said Osborne.
Operating costs at the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community centre for women is just over $3 million per year, said the centre’s director, Cheryl Diebel. That includes the pay for 25 to 30 staff, she said.
The capital funding for the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community treatment and recovery centre was $3.7 million. Of that, $500,000 will be used for a garden. All of that funding was acquired through fundraising through private donations. Diebel said there has been strong community support.
A life-changing resource:
“As a woman who suffered from substance misuse most of my life, I personally know how difficult it was to sever all my ties with my community, family and friends to travel to the Mainland for treatment,” said Lee Sundquist, manager, New Roads Women’s Therapeutic Recovery Community.
“The new facility will be a life-changing resource for women. It will help them get the support that they deserve, here on Vancouver Island where they live, and will provide ongoing support when they leave our facility.”
Facility tour:
Touring the two-storey facility was an opportunity for Osborne, other guests and media to see the offices, bedrooms, showers, computer station, and large commercial -style kitchen.
The building and the program is set up to help make women feel safe and supported as they rebuild their lives following the impacts of substance use.
The bedrooms are spacious, the hallways are bright with natural light.
There is bright artwork on the walls.
A comfort dog was on hand for the announcement and the tour, including posing for a group photo! The dog spends time at both the women’s recovery centre and the men’s centre next door.
Our Place Society:
The facility is operated by Our Place Society, which is a Greater Victoria organization that provides housing, shelter, substance-use recovery and other vital supports to people in the community experiencing homelessness, mental-health or substance-use challenges, and other vulnerable populations.
“These new, publicly available services will be a vital source of support for women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people in their recovery journey,” said Jonny Morris, CEO, Canadian Mental Health Association of BC (CMHA-BC). “The ability to stay for up to two years will allow individuals to recover and heal in a supportive community, at their pace. We are grateful to collaborate with the Province and New Roads to offer this life-changing, person-centred care.”
In addition to the new treatment centre, substance-use support services for women have expanded in Vancouver, Nanaimo and Kelowna, with 24 additional women-only treatment beds opened in 2024. These new beds make it easier for women to access care in their communities.
The Province is expanding treatment options in all regions of B.C. so that more people can find the pathway to recovery that works for them. Adding bed-based services is one part of government’s work to build up the entire continuum of mental-health and substance-use care for people to get the right support for them.
===== RELATED:
NEWS SECTIONS: HEALTH