Solution in front of us

Emmanuel Church in West Kelowna hosted an outstanding musical “Big Band” night as a fundraiser for Freedoms’ Door, an addiction recovery program in Kelowna.

What a great opportunity a volunteer, not for profit charity, the City of Kelowna, province and federal government could use to solve the urgent and important homeless and addiction issue by working together in a simple and cost-effective way.

Kelowna is proposing a $45-million program to solve homelessness. The province is spending a similar amount locally on “harm reduction" addiction programs, the federal government is pledging hundreds of millions to house people on low incomes, and Freedom’s Door has a need for $4 million to complete its $10-million 52-unit residency project. This is not the recovery program, but a transition back to mainstream society for a group of people after successfully overcoming addictions at other locations. 

Freedom’s Door has 15 years experience in managing and rehabilitating homeless and addicted men from across the region. They follow a program similar to other successful recovery programs like Hope for Freedom, Teen Challenge and others across the country. They have established management and counselling teams; a sound financial program to make it affordable for low-income workers. They have a solid, committed volunteer base and hundreds of graduates working within the community to assist.

They also have the respect of Kelowna council, who approved the rezoning needed for the future housing project, and several faith-based groups in the Okanagan.

Here is a shovel-ready project with a management team, a plan that works and solid community support.

The money is there at a city, provincial and federal level if the political leaders are sincere about tackling addictions and homelessness. This becomes a low-risk, cost-effective, program that would not require more resources of the city or province. In fact, it would reduce policing, social services and hospitalization costs by the return to productive society of these men.

With a joint commitment of $1.4 million each from the three levels of government, this urgently needed project could be underway in weeks. We can only hope the political groups can see the benefits and act to unite in making this successful in a timely manner.

Doug Waines, West Kelowna