Not-for-profit drug rehab facility faces repair bill pegged at $400,000

A not-for-profit drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility on the outskirts of Edmonton established to help others in crisis now faces a crisis of its own.

Our House Addiction Recovery Centre, a year-long, live-in service targeted at men, is facing a hefty renovation bill after discovering black mould in the kitchen area as well as multiple issues with its heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, executive director Laurie de Grace said last week.

The repair bill has yet to be finalized but de Grace estimates the work could cost as much as $400,000.

That’s a tough ask for an operation already working with a tight budget, she said. The facility ’s 2016 financials showed a $2,295 deficit on a $1.2 million budget.

The facility, located off a service road between Edmonton and Stony Plain in the former Alamo Motel, was purchased in late 2007.

The Our House program started in Edmonton’s inner city in 1984 when parishioners at St. Stephen the Martyr Anglican Church rented an old house as a drop-in service.

Four years later, government funding allowed the church to purchase a 32-bed facility on 121 Avenue and then in 1999 they opened the 10-bed John Hilton three-quarter house, on 81 Street.

When the doors of Our House opened in March 2008 on the outskirts of the city, the group sold its 121 Avenue building.

Our House offers abstinencebased

addiction treatment for 60 men — there is currently a threemonth waiting list.

As a not-for-profit, a majority of Our House’s $1 million annual revenue comes through room and board fees. It costs $1,800 per month to stay at Our House, and clients are funded through Alberta Health Services and via subsidies from programs like Alberta Works and Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH). Our House also receives donations.

De Grace described the current financial situation of Our House as “precarious.”

“We are managing, and we have some money in reserve and at this point it looks like we will have to dip into that,” she said.