Sober lifestyle student residence to open in the fall

For those looking to continue working on their sobriety during post-secondary education a new facility is available to help.

A sober living residence operated by New Beginnings Essex County for post-secondary students is opening in the fall.There are 13 units in the facility. It's catering to students in recovery or those choosing to live a sober lifestyle for any reason.

"It's a safe, supportive, affordable living space for them to to work on their academic journey and and get some extra supports while they're in school," said Stacey Yannacopoulos, executive director of New Beginnings.

New Beginnings hopes to have the first group move in on Sept. 1. 

"We're being quite selective with the first cohort," said Yannacopoulos. "We want to make sure that whoever we accept, their vision is in alignment with ours, they are committed to sobriety, and they're committed to respecting and supporting each other."

Yannacopoulos said the residence is important because the youth population is occasionally disregarded or neglected, especially when the expectation is that you are bound to succeed in post-secondary education.

"There are so many needs for that population of students," she said "Whether it's food insecurity, whether it's mental health or substance use and we've seen those needs increase so much since the pandemic."

New Beginnings connected with the University of Windsor's Lancers Recovery Program in the early stages of the research process. Meagan Park, University of Windsor's Lancers Recovery Program coordinator, said 10 years ago when they were a student at the university, they had to drop out because they were an active addict.

"Asking for help at that time and there was nothing available," said Park. "Getting to see that complete turnaround and that ability to have support now makes a huge difference."

Park said the University of Windsor is the first university in Ontario to offer a student recovery community, and the second in Canada after the University of British Columbia. They also said that even though the University of Windsor could not provide a sober residence, the option presented by New Beginnings is even better.

"Because it's through New Beginnings, it's accessible to all students," said Park. "Whether that's at UWindsor, whether that's at St. Clair College, whether that's at any of the local colleges around, it just really adds to that accessibility piece which is really, really important to me and being able to bring recovery support to as many people."

Students pay rent between $1,100 to $1,300 per month depending on the room.

The residence is hosting an open house on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for potential applicants to see the living spaces and for community partners to see what is being offered.