Kettle and Stony Point First Nation opens addictions recovery home

A new home for mental health and addiction services at Kettle and Stony Point First Nation will also provide residential beds for those in recovery.

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Leaders and community members at the First Nation near Forest gathered Oct. 26 for the official opening of its Mental Health and Wellness Hub and Recovery Home in a renovated former church.

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Julie George, mental health and addictions manager at Kettle and Stony Point, said there’s room for five residential beds for women on the lower floor of the former St. John’s Anglican Church and two tiny homes built by Habitat for Humanity to house men.

It’s hoped two more tiny homes can be added so there will be four beds for men at the Recovery Home, she said.

“It will be people who have gone off to detox” and a second stage withdrawal management facility, such as Ryan’s House in Sarnia, or residential treatment, George said.

“When they come home, and they have a stable foundation, they can come and live here and work on strengthening that foundation,” she said.

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“Our biggest gap was when people came home from treatment,” George said. “They’ve learned some of the coping skills and done a lot of their healing, and then they come into the community and they’re faced with a lot of the same pressures.”

The First Nation’s mental health and recovery services and staff will be located on the top floor of the new facility.

“We like the idea of ​​having our staff situated here every day, and have our program services run here,” in the same space as those living in the residential beds “so they’ll always have supports they can draw on,” George said .

Individuals from the community will be eligible to use the beds for up to one year “as long as they’re actively engaged in their healing journey and involved in programs and services,” she said. “We’ll really encourage them along their path toward education, employment and suitable housing.”

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Funding to create the new facility came from several sources, George said.

That included the Ministry of Health which provided one-time funding for renovations as well as funding for the residential beds, she said.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of London funded furnishings and outdoor spaces, George said.

“What it shows is that you can use your funding creatively because we typically only get base funding from Health Canada for minimal services, I would say,” she said.

“We don’t typically get provincial funding but it came in handy for us to think outside of the box and provide some services that were, I would say, equitably to what people would be able to access off of the reserve,” George said .

Providing residential programs for addiction is unique among First Nations in the region, she said.

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“It’s a new model of care and we’re hoping that it’s one that other First Nations will start to utilize,” George said.

During the official opening, Chief Kimberly Bressette thanked all those involved in the project.

“I know this is going to be one of the first steps to a journey we’re going to embark on for healing in our community,” she said. “I know it’s going to help many people and it has been a long time coming.”

George said they will also be working in the coming weeks on providing emergency overnight shelter in the community.

“With COVID we saw an increase in addictions,” she said. “We also saw an increase in homelessness and unstable housing.”

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