Barrie councillors will consider endorsing a women’s residential addiction recovery facility tonight and providing an interest-free $400,000 loan to renovate a building for the centre’s operations, which include the battle against opioids.
The loan would be to Cornerstone to Recovery, the facility operator, and be funded from the city’s community benefit reserve. This loan would be secured against the building and repaid in equal instalments, beginning in 2021, during a 20-year period.
Cornerstone would pursue other funding opportunities and, if received, repay the outstanding loan to the city, upon receipt of this funding.
“The centre is very necessary as we are still experiencing an opioid crisis in the city of Barrie, as well as deaths from other drugs, including alcohol,” Coun. Natalie Harris told BarrieToday. “This centre will offer up to 20 beds for women, and will provide six months of addiction treatment, including return-to-work programs, and transitional housing.
“The plan is to include a men’s addiction treatment centre and community space in the future,” she said. “The location of the centre has not been disclosed yet, but I can say that it is not in the downtown area.”
Harris said the $400,000 loan from the city would help to subsidize the first three years of the program. Three million dollars have already been raised by outside donations to put toward the capital required for the project, she said.
“That means $3 million will be invested into wellness and recovery in our city very soon,” Harris said.
Coun. Mike McCann said he fully endorses the facility, has met with Cornerstone officials and came away impressed — noting Cornerstone has a proven track record in Newmarket.
“What I am concerned with is that Barrie city council should not be in this lane,” he told BarrieToday. “Social services are the responsibility of the County (of Simcoe). I would hope to see the county stepping up and hope that our MPPs are (aware of this project).
“I am still digesting the $400,000 loan and might have questions at general committee (Monday)," McCann added.
McCann said he could have questions not only Monday night, but when the matter is dealt with by city council on Oct. 26.
“I also met with the Cornerstone group over 10 months ago and have asked many questions and received acceptable answers,” he said. “They have an impressive existing facility, approach and programming. The fact that they are investing $3 million of private money in the betterment of our community, to a population in need (also impresses).”
Councillors will also consider a motion Monday to enter into a sole-source, two-year agreement, with an option to renew for an additional two years, with Cornerstone to place clothing bins at city facilities, or at mutually agreed-upon locations on public land, for the sole purpose of funding its residential addiction recovery services.
“The centre will also be funded by a textile diversion program — already successfully operating in various cities in York Region for many years now — where residents can drop off unwanted textiles to monitored bins located on city properties,” Harris said.
Cornerstone says the Barrie facility would be an accessible home with 14 beds for residential guests and six beds for transitional housing, for those who successfully complete the program. It would be staffed 24/7 by Cornerstone counselling team members.
Its programs would be specialized to the unique needs of women — with trauma support, case manager for survivors of trauma and/or human trafficking. There would be increased safety and security systems and protocols for residents and staff.
And there would be a day treatment program for women who cannot stay in a residential centre overnight, due to child care.
“The Cornerstone treatment model is very community oriented,” Harris said. “There is no actual end-date to the care these women and their families will receive, as they will be able to connect with fellow alumni on an ongoing basis after they complete the six months of care at the centre.”
Cornerstone says its cost for each residential guest is $15,000, and it asks each one to pay $7,500 for a three-month program. Cornerstone covers the other half.
For those who cannot afford this, Cornerstone says it works with them to create an individualized plan or a further subsidized amount. No one is ever turned away because they cannot afford treatment, Cornerstone says.
All payments by guests are put into a community contribution fund, which is used to cover Cornerstone’s programming costs.
Textile recycling sites in Barrie would provide a sustainable source of funding to open, maintain and grow a women’s residential centre, as well as divert reusable items away from the city’s landfill.
City staff have reviewed Cornerstone’s information and confirmed that its operations in other communities, supported in part by the textile diversion program, appear to have a balanced budget.
Cornerstone uses a small chute bin requiring three feet of frontage clearance to open the door. It uses routing and work order software to optimize collection schedules. The sensors in the bins trigger a ‘ready for collection’ message and this appears to help with the quantity of spillover donations left around collection bins which have been a concern in many communities.
“The textiles diverted from our landfill will decrease our carbon footprint significantly,” Harris said, “and lower tipping fees paid for by taxpayer dollars, a savings of approximately $170,000 a year.”
Since the fourth quarter of 2019, the city has run a curbside collection of clothing and textiles pilot program. Data from it will be used to assess the feasibility of a permanent program through seasonal collection cycles.
Cornerstone is a registered charity and recovery agency based in Newmarket that provides addiction recovery programs for individuals and families. Its doors opened in 2004 with the intention to provide a safe and productive place for those going from addiction to sustainable, community based recovery. It’s designed to be collaborative and constructive, as well as home, Cornerstone says.
It also provides a variety of day and residential programs to help individuals develop the skills, confidence and connections necessary to change their own lives, and rejoin their community.
