Many people need to leave their home communities, where they have family, friends, and supports and move to a major city in order to find substance use treatment and continuing care. Facing a new and difficult system to navigate, long wait lists, and a lack of affordable housing, many fall through the cracks and out of the care system, off their recovery journey, and become at risk for homelessness. A better option may be accessing care in a familiar system, closer to home where they have a built-in support system.
To this end, Streetohome is partnering with North Wind Wellness Centre (NWWC) to develop the flagship Addiction Recovery Community Housing (ARCH) model in Pouce Coupe, BC. The model will be the first in Canada, providing a full continuum of care under one roof while incorporating best practices and learnings that combine traditional Indigenous healing and Western medicine.
The programming sits within a framework of Indigenous cultural safety and wellness, with a significant focus on peer support and the development of recovery capital to better support Indigenous communities in northeastern BC. NWWC aims to provide recovery pathways that address the housing, health, and employment goals of the individual, engaging them in their recovery journey regardless of where they’re at.
The ARCH model integrates early recovery housing that includes withdrawal management (10 units), addiction treatment housing (10 units), recovery supportive housing (20 units) and continuing care via a Recovery Community Centre– optimizing the use of limited resources, facilitating system navigation and access, and improving individual outcomes. The ARCH will be designed as flex housing so that housing units can be converted between Early Recovery, Addiction Treatment, and Support Recovery to meet the changing demand while optimizing resources.
