Red Deer Dream Centre addiction recovery facility for men will begin changing lives this week.
In the next few days, the first clients will be accepted at the 40-bed facility, which is Red Deer’s first addiction treatment centre. Men 18 years and older will receive treatment for up to a year at the centre located downtown in the former Lotus nightclub.
“A community-backed, grassroots solution to drug and alcohol addiction in our community like the Red Deer Dream Centre is an incredibly powerful movement,” said Wes Giesbrecht, chair of the Red Deer Dream Centre Society.
Programs are designed to “not only to address the physical, emotional and mental side of addiction, but also the spiritual side.”
The project has been in the making for more than four years. In 2018, a grassroots movement led by a group of local businessmen decided to try to do something with the former nightclub.
With opioid addiction deaths on the rise, the group felt that an addiction treatment facility for men would be the best way to serve the community.
In 2020, construction was approved and then $1.4 million was raised, almost entirely from private donors.
“Seeing the opening of the Dream Centre in our community supports city council’s goals of building Red Deer as a recovery community,” said Mayor Ken Johnston. “We are excited to see the Dream Centre provide a new recovery-oriented approach for our community.”
Safe Harbour executive director Kath Hoffman applauded the new residential treatment option.
“This long-awaited service will be of great benefit to anyone who is looking for support in their recovery journey. Such good news, and we are excited to have a local recovery program to refer people to.”
The centre’s self-stated goal is to help clients find help, hope and healing and to reconnect them with their families, and become productive, contributing and purpose-filled members of society.
Clients coming straight from detoxification programs will be welcomed and then supported with housing and individual and group counselling. The centre will also offer help with education upgrading and enrolling in job skill training as they transition back into the community.
As a non-profit, the centre is committed to helping men receive help even if they cannot pay for all of
their treatment. The cost for treatment is $3,700 a month per bed. Those who would like to help sponsor the recovery of a client can contact the centre at rddc.ca/donate.