B.C. is spending millions on drug recovery treatment. This facility shows what that treatment could look like
CBC
When someone first steps into Together We Can's recovery centre in East Vancouver, they are greeted at an intake office with a hug.
Then they are told they are loved, and a solution is possible.
After a medical assessment, clients are given a room in a men's-only residential treatment home. They are also given a peer group and encouraged to participate in group and one-on-one counselling sessions.
"We're more than willing to love you until you can love yourself," said Stacy Wilson, executive director at Together We Can, licensed under Vancouver Coastal Health.
"Part of that is comfort — comfort in a bed, comfort in a home, comfort with your peers."
The services are examples of drug addiction treatments the B.C. government says more people will be able to access with new funding.
Advocates also hope the funding will help shrink wait lists to get more people into treatment more quickly.
According to B.C.'s Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, as of September 2022, there were 3,260 publicly-funded beds across the province for adult and youth struggling with substance use.
Now more are on the way, with the province set to spend more than $1 billion to expand mental health and addiction services over the next three years.
A total of $586 million will go towards supporting people with substance-use-related illnesses and creating a new model of care, including 100 new publicly-funded treatment and recovery beds with no out-of-pocket fees, and a new model of "seamless care" with 95 beds to support people throughout the entire recovery process, also not requiring out-of-pocket fees.
Millions will also be invested in expanding the treatment model at Coquitlam's Red Fish Healing Centre across the province, which features a more trauma-informed approach.
Braydon Gilkes, 29, is receiving treatment at Together We Can, which typically lasts between 60 and 90 says.
"Being here has been the best decision I ever made in my life," said Gilkes, who grew up in a loving family but has grappled with anxiety and negative self-talk.
Using drugs, he says, brought him out of his shell.
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