Bid to block rehab a blessing in disguise
Foundation plans to open 3 treatment centres in Okanagan after neighbours foiled attempt to open facility in Penticton
At the end of the day, if it took the Juniper (Drive) event as a lesson and a teachable moment to the public in terms of stigma, then so be it. Michelle Jansen
Neighbours who banded together to buy out a proposed Penticton rehab in their neighbourhood proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Jansen Foundation.
The foundation, created by Michelle Jansen, whose son Brandon died of an overdose in a Powell River treatment centre, is now planning to open three treatment facilities in the Okanagan, with announcements coming from the foundation’s head office on Wednesday.
“Even though it was disheartening, the original Juniper (Drive) property in Penticton was bought out, in the end, now we’re opening up three,” Jansen said.
She said the lost time is crucial as numbers are up 43 per cent over last year when it comes to opioid-related fatalities.
“Every other day, my phone lights up by people I don’t know who have lost their sons, or daughters, or husbands, or wives, mothers and fathers to fatality,” Jansen said.
She said the B.C. government has stepped up, putting $313 million toward the overdose crisis.
“But it’s not enough. In good conscience, I’ve had to fast-track and to move along the treatment centres, and in consideration of those four neighbours banding together and buying that, you know what, yeah, it was disheartening, but in the same token it was somewhat of a gift after the fact because there are a lot of good people.”
Those “good people” are three property owners in Penticton, Osoyoos and Vernon, with whom she has struck deals since the news was broken by the Penticton Herald that the Juniper Drive neighbours bought the original property.
“(The new property owners) are willing to let me use their property in order to operate these facilities and use the beds for recovery because their own families have been affected by it,” Jansen said.
The first location is set to open in Penticton on March 1, followed closely by centres in Osoyoos and Vernon. The announcement commemorates the second-year anniversary of Brandon’s death.
“We’re going to save lives. At the end of the day, if it took the Juniper (Drive) event as a lesson and a teachable moment to the public in terms of stigma, then so be it,” Jensen said. “We’re going to open up more beds in a quicker fashion to save lives.”