Community disheartened at closure of Salvation Army's addiction recovery centre
CBC
The closure of the Salvation Army's Recovery Community Centre (RCC) at the end of the month, has left community members looking for other ways to help those struggling with addictions.
Raimond Blizzard says his life turned around when the centre welcomed him with open arms to treat his alcohol addiction. He worries that its closure will take away that support from others.
"Through this centre, I've built structure back into my life and had ongoing support with a community and the RCC has facilitated us in that, quite frankly, it saved my life," he said.
At the end of a difficult relationship, Blizzard found himself seeking support and a place to stay, and after years of feeling depressed and defeated, he knocked on the doors of RCC and entered treatment.
"I was able to go into a new, safe environment," the 43-year-old said. "It lifted some fear out of me, not all of it, but it gave me a new direction."
The RCC will close on Mar. 31 due to a lack of continued funding. The centre in London, Ont., offered long-term housing and recovery programs for participants for up to four years.
The Centre of Hope, however, will remain open and those who are currently using the program's services will be able to continue their stay.
Students from King's College School of Social Work have worked extensively with participants through providing group and individual counselling sessions, assessment tools, and policies.
"We're very disappointed at the news of losing this centre," said Mary Kay Arundel, the school's coordinator of field education.
"This was a very unique program, and certainly housed within our own community here in London so we were wonderful beneficiaries of it," she added.
Arundel says that the one-one-one support provided changed many lives because it allowed clients to truly feel connected.
"It was a priority, understanding the journey of folks experiencing addiction and walking that journey with them to lend that support," she said.
According to Arundel, RCC was unique in its inpatient services, and those requiring them, may now have to travel to further places, creating challenges of its own.
"When someone needs that level of care and support and they have to go far and wide to find that, it impacts all kinds of things. There's a cost both financially but also emotionally, when we're taken away from our families and they're not able to visit us," she said
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