In northern British Columbia, recovery has too often required leaving home. For many Indigenous individuals, accessing treatment has meant travelling far from community – away from family, culture, and support systems at the very moment they are needed most. People move through withdrawal management, wait for treatment, complete programs, and then face the uncertainty of what comes next, often without stable housing or continuity in care. The system exists, but it rarely holds together. ARCH was designed to change that.

Rather than asking people to navigate a disjointed system of separate services, ARCH brings the system into one place and ensures smooth transitions, so individuals do not fall out of care.

A New Pathway for Northern British Columbia

Set in Pouce Coupe and developed in partnership with North Wind Wellness Centre, the Addiction Recovery Community Housing (ARCH) model brings together early recovery housing with withdrawal management, treatment housing, recovery supportive housing, and long term recovery supports within a single, integrated environment. It is the first model of its kind in Canada to unite this full continuum – grounded in both Indigenous cultural practices and Western clinical care.

Building a blueprint for system change

Streetohome Foundation led the development of the project’s business case, aligning partners across sectors to transform longstanding system gaps into an operational, fundable, and replicable model. This approach brought government, service providers, and community stakeholders into alignment, strengthening coordination and implementation.

Read more about it in our Newsletter.