Castanet

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/2 ... -addiction


These are the positive stories I want to read - the "successes"!

Sounds like a great idea! Glad they are feeling the natural "endorphins" and have something healthy to look forward to.....hope the program continues and doesn't fall through the cracks thereby taking this positive action away from them. THEY are in control of this choice (taking the course) at least - not the drug addiction - at least for now. Power to them....and I hope many more take the leap to try it....

Wishing all of them participating the best!

This is a good story ... one thing I notice is that these people are not homeless, they are in supportive housing (i.e. Karis & Ozanam) ... I doubt we'd see the kind of success happen for people that are still worried about having a roof over their head at night ...

Score one for the people who think inside the boxing!

spooker wrote:This is a good story ... one thing I notice is that these people are not homeless, they are in supportive housing (i.e. Karis & Ozanam) ... I doubt we'd see the kind of success happen for people that are still worried about having a roof over their head at night ...

Score one for the people who think inside the boxing!

I am curious, are Karis & Ozanam wet facilities do you know? I don't know anything about them except I know where Karis is located. Are they rehabs? Low Cost affordable rental housing? Permanent housing or only while rehabbing or? Wet v Dry?

To my knowledge these two facilities are "dry". They provide housing and other forms of on-site support programs once the individual has either been through a treatment program elsewhere or not used illegal substances for a period of time (Two weeks?) and is at risk of relapse. Karis is for women (with or without infants and toddlers) and Ozanam is for men. Karis is faith-based program. Not sure about Ozanam. There is information about each program on internet.
I have heard positive things about both facilities from individuals they have assisted. I have been involved with Karis clients in a professional capacity and found Karis staff to be a positive support to them and to me.

Dry facility.. that's where success comes from. its a REAL treatment facility, not a band-aid handout.

Piecemaker wrote:To my knowledge these two facilities are "dry". They provide housing and other forms of on-site support programs once the individual has either been through a treatment program elsewhere or not used illegal substances for a period of time (Two weeks?) and is at risk of relapse. Karis is for women (with or without infants and toddlers) and Ozanam is for men. Karis is faith-based program. Not sure about Ozanam. There is information about each program on internet.
I have heard positive things about both facilities from individuals they have assisted. I have been involved with Karis clients in a professional capacity and found Karis staff to be a positive support to them and to me.

Thanks for the info! I am hoping you are correct about them being "dry"....I am a proponent of "dry" help & assistance other than what is needed in the very beginning for cessation drugs - I can't see any other way really being of much "help" in quitting drugs.

If more places were being built that are "dry", I doubt the residents would be so opposed to them joining the neigbhourhoods - which would be a plus for both sides!

pieinthei wrote:Dry facility.. that's where success comes from. its a REAL treatment facility, not a band-aid handout.

Wet facilities are about keeping people safe, and giving them a starting point to improve their lives if they're able to make that choice. A person utilizing a wet facility likely could not succeed in a dry one.

Both are drug and alcohol free programs. They are for those in a certain place along the road of recovery. Wet facilities are for those at the beginning of that same road.

http://karis-society.org/
http://www.recoverykelowna.ca/

JayByrd wrote:

pieinthei wrote:Dry facility.. that's where success comes from. its a REAL treatment facility, not a band-aid handout.

Wet facilities are about keeping people safe, and giving them a starting point to improve their lives if they're able to make that choice. A person utilizing a wet facility likely could not succeed in a dry one.

depends which people you are talking about.. the general population is far from safe around these wet facilities..

Piecemaker wrote:Both are drug and alcohol free programs. They are for those in a certain place along the road of recovery. Wet facilities are for those at the beginning of that same road.

http://karis-society.org/
http://www.recoverykelowna.ca/

Fair enough - but I wonder if these people in the article ever actually started their path back to sobriety in a wet facility? Perhaps they could have started in detox, then other dry programs, rehab or housing using only medically administered cessation drugs which weaned them off entirely, then into Karis & Ozanam where they are learning to move ahead into their new sober lives?

pieinthei wrote:
depends which people you are talking about.. the general population is far from safe around these wet facilities..

I think you know which people I'm talking about.

And those individuals will be in the community, doing what they do, whether they are housed in a wet facility or not.

JayByrd wrote:

pieinthei wrote:
depends which people you are talking about.. the general population is far from safe around these wet facilities..

I think you know which people I'm talking about.

And those individuals will be in the community, doing what they do, whether they are housed in a wet facility or not.

doing what they do is what i have a problem with..

dle wrote:Fair enough - but I wonder if these people in the article ever actually started their path back to sobriety in a wet facility? Perhaps they could have started in detox, then other dry programs, rehab or housing using only medically administered cessation drugs which weaned them off entirely, then into Karis & Ozanam where they are learning to move ahead into their new sober lives?

I imagine there have been paths to sobriety that have begun in all sorts of places. Detox and rehab facilities are not sitting with vacant beds. People need somewhere to live as they wait for treatment services and so do those using illegal drugs who aren't yet desiring treatment.

I don't know about Ozanam, but residents of Karis can use prescribed cessation drugs while they are living there. Someone I knew of went daily to the pharmacy for methadone or methadose.

Working next to a wet facility I know a thing or two about what it brings to the neighborhood. We are inundated daily with reports from the RCMP and the news on recent busts made where hard drugs are involved. What do they find? Hard drugs and illegal firearms. Well if you have a facility that allows it's residents to use drugs there, guess who starts to appear in the neighborhood. The dealers of said hard drugs. I have witnessed multiple transactions and have called police and they always show up half an hour later after the transaction is complete and everyone is gone. I have had death threats and aggressive altercations with the people involved. I can say without a shadow of doubt that in the future it is inevitable that something far more serious in nature will happen. Why should I have to come to work and have the prospect of violence at my door every day? I have filled a couple of sharps containers with needles since the facility has been open. We have many families and children at our business. So there is a very real risk of someone being poked with a dirty needle. We do not allow marijuana dispensaries near schools or pubs near schools. So why on earth do we allow hard drugs to be used near a facility that has families and children present? Possessing hard drugs falls under the Food and Drug Act which means it is a federal offense! The wet facility itself is only part of the equation as it's location attracts the other addicts that are not housed also. Where there are drug dealers the addicts will follow. I don't get what kind of message that is being sent here. We want to help you fit into society by not abiding by the laws placed on society? Say that out loud and listen to how ridiculous it sounds.

well said!!
AGREED