5-bedroom transitional home opens in Yellowknife for people back from addictions treatment
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A five-bedroom home in Yellowknife will host a new transitional housing program for people returning from addictions treatment.
On Monday afternoon, the territorial government, City of Yellowknife and Salvation Army unveiled the home — the first of its kind for the Transitional Housing for Addictions Recovery Program (THARP).
The program came about as an effort to close a gap in aftercare services for people returning from treatment.
"We are not just opening a building. We are opening up a new chapter of hope and healing," said Lucy Kuptana, the N.W.T.'s housing minister.
Laughter — and perhaps a poignant moment — rose as a fierce wind attempted to blow down signs for the housing announcement behind her.
"That's what we need to do throughout the North, is stabilize housing," she said with a chuckle, steadying the signs.
Billed as the first program of its kind in the N.W.T. and located in a residential neighbourhood, the home will have staff with training in addictions treatment on-site 24 hours a day. Health and Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler said it would provide "stable, sober housing" for residents.
Semmler said her department would be working closely with the Salvation Army, which will run the residence and deliver programming.
Tony Brushett, the Salvation Army's executive director, said the hope is that the program will help people who don't have stable housing. The organization is hoping to start welcoming residents in April.
He said in the past, the Salvation Army has been able to help people go south for longer treatment programs — but there was little support when they returned.
"They would quite often finish those programs and get dropped right in front of the shelter they came from, which was the epicentre of where their problems were," he said.
The home was purchased and renovated with $1.3 million in federal money, applied for by the N.W.T. government through Yellowknife's partnership with the federal Reaching Home strategy.
A similar transitional housing project is expected to open in Inuvik later this year.
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