There are still no free youth addiction treatment beds in Kelowna

It's been more than three and a half years since a 17-year-old Kelowna woman fatally overdosed alone in a public bathroom, after she was unable to get the treatment she needed. Today, little has changed when it comes to recovery options for youth in Kelowna.

In a recent video produced by the Bridge Youth & Family Services, Chelsea Christianson's mother speaks about the challenges her daughter faced before her death.

“She just was never given a chance to get better because of these waitlists,” said Kimberly Christianson.

“The fact that three and a half years later, nothing has changed, it's a stab in my heart because it says that my daughter's life didn't matter.”

There remains no publicly funded youth treatment beds for anyone 17 years old and younger across the entire Okanagan. Publicly funded means free of charge, a vital feature for those who can't afford that thousands of dollars needed for some private treatment centres.

“I know that there are families right now in the exact same spot I was five years ago, and searching for resources and feeling like they're drowning and not being able to help their child,” Christianson said. “It's just a tragedy, it's terrible.”

The Bridge Youth & Family Service is currently working to change that in Kelowna, by retrofitting a building the organization currently owns into a six-bed youth treatment facility where young people 19 and under can spend upwards of six months, depending on their needs.

“We run a youth detox program so we know that we will have children as young as 12 in our program,” Thompson said.

The Bridge has raised about half of the $1 million needed through business sponsorships and personal donations, and executive director Celine Thompson hopes to have the doors open within the next year.

The six-bed facility is just Phase 1 of the Bridge's plan though. They would like to build a brand-new 16-bed facility for youth in the community, as Thompson says “the demand for services is so high in this community.”

That new facility has an estimated cost of $10 million, and would likely require government assistance. In August, the B.C. government announced it would be spending $35 million through to 2023 to double the number of treatment beds for youth aged 12 to 24. But in the three months since the announcement was made, Thompson has heard nothing about where in the province these additional beds will be going.

With the opioid crisis continuing to kill British Columbians at alarming rates, it's not an issue that can wait. In the first nine months of this year, 38 people in Kelowna died from illicit drug overdoses. 

“[Chelsea] died while on a waitlist, which is a horrific experience,” Thompson said. "These are not the children or families that are denying there's an issue or a problem, they are absolutely motivated to get better and there is nowhere to turn.”

Those looking to help make the Bridge's Youth Recovery Centre a reality can find more information here.