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Supported recovery room to sleep off effects of substance abuse close to opening

Supported recovery room just one community initiative that benefits from United Way funds, which on Thursday announced its campaign goal of $3.4 million

A new supported recovery room where people can sleep off the effects of drugs and alcohol in a safe, supported environment is scheduled to open next month.

The five-bed recovery room will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week in a renovated space above the Welcome In Drop-In Centre.

The recovery room news was part of an update on the Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness given at the United Way campaign launch Thursday at Royal City Church.

This year's United Way campaign has a target of $3.4 million.

The supported recovery room and two other initiatives were presented during a panel discussion over a pancake breakfast as concrete examples of how the United Way campaign helps people and makes the city a better place.

Guelph previously had a supported recovery room, which is staffed with counsellors and paramedics, that was a two-bed pilot project for five months in 2018.

"We're really happy that sometime in October we will be opening up an expanded supported recovery room," said Raechelle Devereaux, executive director of the Guelph Community Health Centre, one of several partners in the project.

"It takes a multitude of organizations and expertise and it's not easy," said Devereaux of the work that went into making the recovery room happen at a time when there wasn't much progress being made even after the Mayor's Task Force prioritized it.

"Those five beds are going to be 24/7 access to a primal need called sleep and rest and recovery, and that's going to be supervised sleep monitored for safety."

The recovery room will be connected to several other social agencies that could be of use for those using the room.

"Wraparound care," as Devereaux called it.

The update on the Mayor's Task Force covered the three programs that were the first initiatives it spawned: a supported recovery room, the Welcoming Streets initiative in Downtown Guelph and an addiction court support worker.

A program that places an addiction court support worker in the court has been a big success, said Stonehenge Therapeutic Community interim executive director Kerry Manthenga.

"What that program does is bring addiction treatment and addiction support into the court," Manthenga said.

"The addiction court support worker's role is to connect with people at the moment when their motivation may be the greatest, and it turns out that people's motivation in the courtroom is sometimes greater than their motivations in the other places they may be."

Motivational counselling and promoting positive behaviour changes are their role.

Since May the support worker has connected with 36 clients.

The Welcoming Streets initiative, another effort of several community organizations, including the Downtown Guelph Board of Management, has also proven to be a huge success, the roughly 60 people gathered at Thursday's event heard.

Other Ontario cities have been coming to Guelph to learn about it and a delegation from Germany will be coming here to see how it works.

Welcoming Streets bridges the gap and understanding between vulnerable people downtown and business owners and provides connections to social resources for those vulnerable people.

It diffuses conflict, helps develop empathy and, potentially, helps people get the help they need.

"We believe every human, when they are supported and have access to the things that they need, they are healthier," said outreach worker Julie Porter.

The Mayor of Guelph applauded the work of the United Way in helping make the initiatives possible.

"The task force came together to talk about the solutions. They had to be practical, they had to be achievable things and it didn't take the group very long at all to come up with the solutions," Guthrie said.

"The United Way, immediately, stepped right up," Guthrie said.

"It is safe to say that some of these projects would not have moved forward at all without the help of the United Way," he said.


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Tony Saxon

About the Author: Tony Saxon

Tony Saxon has had a rich and varied 30 year career as a journalist, an award winning correspondent, columnist, reporter, feature writer and photographer.
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