Construction of a 75-bed addiction treatment centre is taking shape on the north side of Red Deer.
The $17-million Red Deer Recovery Community is being constructed out of modular units being assembled offsite and is on schedule to open in October.
Officials toured the site on Wednesday, including Premier Jason Kenney, who said addiction is an urgent social priority and modular construction ensures the centre will be finished sooner for quicker access to those who need help.
“There are some 60 countries around the world that have adopted this long-term approach to full wrap around services in a community of care to get people on the right path,” Kenney said at the 10-acre project site, located along Highway 2A in Chiles Industrial Park.
“Too often folks fighting addiction have gone through the typical cookie cutter program that is not designed for them — in and out in 28 days — often in urban core areas where it’s too easy to fall back on the streets to use and to get back in touch with their bad circle of friends or peers.”
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He said people will be able to live in the community setting for up to a year where they will access free room and board, intensive support, group and individual therapy, medical support, personal care training and onsite employment.
“We think this is going to become a model copied across Canada,” Kenney said.
Fifty beds will be available to men, and 25 beds to women.
Construction is about 75 per cent complete, with about 52 of the 72 modular units now onsite.
Mayor Ken Johnston said the project offers hope and renewal.
“We’ve been advocating for quite a while for the treatment part of the drug strategy that we adopted in 2014. And our province has been in step with us all the way and I’m grateful,” Johnston said.
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Residential treatment has not been available in Red Deer. Agencies working with people with addictions have had to find treatment options elsewhere for their clients.
The province and the city worked together to pick the location for the recovery community.
The site was selected because there was enough available land for the self-contained facility, it was away from the urban core but still accessible to community services such as health care, and was vacant and able to be temporarily developed within the time frame needed.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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