Drug recovery housing receives $865,000 boost
Governments hope new housing will patch a gap in Saskatchewan's fractured system of care for people trying to quit drugs.
The provincial and federal governments pledged $865,000 in capital funds on Friday for non-profit Oxford House to rent rooms in five detached homes in Saskatoon to people in recovery who need a place to stay after treatment.
Oxford House's Saskatchewan executive director, Mark Soloway, said the 25 new housing units will provide refuge for people who might otherwise go back to the same influences that caused them to use drugs in the first place.
“The idea is that we're trying to be that stability coming out of treatment,” Soloway said.
People often relapse after completing a 28-day treatment program, in part because of the lack of followup care for mental health or social issues that are connected to their substance use, he said. The organization receives referrals from all over the province and can't house all of them.
“We do what we can on that front. But ultimately, there needs to be far and away more help from every sector of government and every organization that works in this field,” Soloway said.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority doesn't track how many people have completed its public addictions treatment programs and relapsed, but Mental Health and Addictions Minister Everett Hindley said late last year that the government was aware of the problem and was evaluating how its existing services perform.
Justice Minister Gord Wyant, who attended the opening on behalf of Social Services Minister Lori Carr, said conversations continue about funding more programs of this kind. He said the government is funding Oxford House based on the success of its 25 units in Regina, which include a program for people recently released from prison.
Board chair and pastor Brian Laratt said the organization has ambitions of expanding to smaller Saskatchewan communities. Its
board also includes June Draude, a founding member of the Saskatchewan Party, and Dr. Wendy Gore-hickman, an anesthesiologist who has been an advocate for mental health investment after her battle with alcoholism and subsequent recovery.
The homes charge a monthly rate of $635, plus a $100 “sobriety deposit,” but Soloway indicated accommodations can be made for people who don't have the money.
He said there is no limit on how long someone can stay at an Oxford House, but they are required to abstain from using drugs while there and must leave if they relapse.