Miranda Vecchio: Closure of Salvation Army’s Vancouver Homestead is cause for deep concern
It is with great sadness and deep concern that we receive the news of the Salvation Army’s Homestead in Vancouver closing on March 31. Homestead has, for the past 27 years, provided a safe and secure environment for hundreds of women seeking recovery from substance abuse.
As the executive director of a women-focused recovery house, I am well aware that drug and alcohol abuse continue to run rampant in our communities and that such resources designed for women are still very much needed. There are only nine licensed women’s support recovery houses and four treatment centres (that will accept women) in the entire Lower Mainland at this time. This translates to 84 support recovery house beds and 100 treatment centre beds. Charlford House is the only licensed facility in all of Burnaby (15 beds).
According to Dr. Alan I. Leshner, former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), there is evidence-based research to support the fact that drug and/or alcohol addicted women’s circumstances and needs differ significantly from men’s in four main areas: origin, consequences, prevention, and treatment and services.
Evidence also indicates that psychosocial factors (such as childhood physical and sexual abuse, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, relationships with a significant other, and partner violence) play a more important role for women than for men in beginning and continuing drug use.
Residential facilities are key in that they offer women long-term solutions to their substance abuse problem, some places offering second-stage housing and/or lifetime aftercare. In this way, every client has an opportunity to face personal issues in a caring and supportive environment, deal with challenges head-on, and heal and grow into contributing members of society.
Running such a facility is very costly and funding options are limited. The stigma attached to addiction often makes the procuring of much-needed funds and donations somewhat of a challenge. For this reason, many nonprofit-society-run recovery facilities operate on a shoe-string budget. Resources are typically stretched to the limit, resulting in an ongoing struggle to meet financial obligations while still providing the utmost in quality care.
When women find themselves in the grip of addiction, it can take a long time for them to reach out for help. Guilt and shame often prevent them from seeking treatment right away, as does the fear of potentially losing their children. When they do finally make this courageous decision, however, it would be comforting if I could say that help is always immediately available. Sadly, this isn’t the case. Losing the 36 beds typically available through Homestead only adds to the problem, not the solution.
There is a ripple effect that occurs in recovery which is even more profound with women. Women are mothers; women are matriarchs; women are the centre of family life. Working with women to heal means working with an entire family to heal—children, brothers, sisters—one woman’s journey affects a whole community of people.
With support residential facilities playing such an important role in the lives of families and ultimately in the broader community, it is imperative to work towards removing any stigma attached to such resources. After all, most people know someone who is either directly or indirectly affected by this deadly disease.
In addition, costs often associated with addiction (e.g. relating to court appearances, jail sentences, lost wages, hospital facilities, emergency response, child foster care, et cetera) all increase the burden on the taxpayer and various levels of government.
Those of us who continue to provide services in our field need to bring awareness to and ensure that visibility of current facilities remains high in the public eye and private domains.
The importance and impact of such organizations cannot be understated. Having said that, wouldn’t we live in a better world if saving lives and transforming lives were everybody’s business? Perhaps it is.
Comments
7 Comments
Sexist
Jan 22, 2015 at 6:59pm
All facilities should be co-ed.
Life is co-ed.
This sort of 20th century sexism should be shut down.
John "Ratty" Arbuckle
Jan 22, 2015 at 8:23pm
Why is this article so thin on information? Why no interview with the directors of the Salvation Army facility? WHY is it closing? Is it funding shortfall, expense, etc, as the interviewee tends to suggest (but doesn't come right out and say)?
Or is there another reason why the Sally Ann is walking away from this place?
Inquirig minds want to know...I suspect there is more to this story than is being said.
Martin Dunphy
Jan 22, 2015 at 9:25pm
Ratty:
Because it is an unassigned guest commentary. Good questions, though. Perhaps the author will reply in this space. If not, her link at the bottom of the piece will lead you to a contact page and an email address and phone number.
jenables
Jan 22, 2015 at 10:43pm
To sexist
It not sexist for women to have a place to recover where they feel safe. Like it or not, women do not tend to fear that other women will sexually assault them, for example. Your comment seems to come from a very naive and (though i am loathe to say it) privileged mindset. Just because you might not consider these things does not mean other women feel the same.
Clark
Jan 23, 2015 at 10:11am
Hey anonymous, if the first thing that comes to mind in an article about a women's shelter closing is, "Whut about teh men???" you've shown your ass and nothing you say needs to be acknowledged. Your high-toned language poorly disguises the simple fact that you care more about your hurt feelings than the actual physical violence and exploitation that these women suffer.
Also
Jan 23, 2015 at 12:39pm
If a man has been sexually assaulted by a woman (which does happen), is he entitled to a care facility staffed entirely by men? How about if a person is sexually assaulted by a black person, is he entitled to a facility where no black people are employed? Etc. Women are put on this pedestal because they are an oppressive, historically advantaged group, and, like all historically advantaged groups, they wish to maintain their advantage, naturalize it, and cast aspersions on anyone who thinks we should all be equal.
Healer
Jan 25, 2015 at 12:34pm
The subtitle for this article should be "And now release the trolls." Most men are raised by women, their mothers. The majority of men are heterosexual and some manage to have relationships with women, some have daughters, sisters, grandmothers. What has happened for so many men to hate and disrespect women?
The issues and concerns of women in recovery are different than the issues of men in recovery. I have worked with both groups. I happen to believe that gender-specific residential treatment should be the norm, although it presents increasingly complex issues with more people identifying as gender-variant, non-binary and/or trans.
The loss of this women-only treatment facility is a tragedy, not just for the women who could have gotten help there, but for their children, their communities and all of us. We are caught in a death spiral in BC and Canada and it is things like this closure that throw our most vulnerable citizens under the bus that illustrate this.