Shovels symbolically broke frozen ground Friday afternoon for the first community treatment centre for women in Simcoe County.
The Women’s Residential Recovery Centre near downtown Barrie will house as many as 12 women at a time, providing them with their own bedroom and washroom.
Blaine Hobson, co-founder and executive director of Cornerstone to Recovery, which will operate the facility, said it was a special day.
“Unless you are living under a rock, (you know there’s) a huge increase in deaths caused by addiction,” he said. “Addiction is the No. 1 killer of Canadians. There is a vast, vast sea of misery.
“Today, we build the lighthouse,” Hobson said. “This is the first step for us.”
The 1,800-square-foot building, located at 236 Dunlop St. W., will be expanded by 3,500 sq. ft. and include a rooftop garden.
Hobson said the centre will be called ‘The Garden’.
Construction is expected to begin in March, with a targeted opening in late August 2022.
Cornerstone is an addiction recovery support agency serving York Region, the Greater Toronto Area and now Barrie. Its mission is to support those affected by addiction to achieve emotional, physical and spiritual wellness.
Coun. Natalie Harris, who championed the Cornerstone project, said it was “a massive undertaking” to bring it to Barrie.
“It’s kind of like a dream come true," she said. “It’s a journey of hope that will be brought to the community.”
“It will help address an under-served part of our community,” said Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood.
“You have recognized the supports that are needed for women,” said Barrie-Innisfil MPP Andrea Khanjin.
“There is a crisis in Barrie. Cornerstone will play a major role with the women it helps,” said Deputy Mayor Barry Ward.
“To say we are excited today would be an understatement,” said Lori-Ann Seward, the centre’s director.
Barrie city council has both endorsed the Cornerstone facility along with an interest-free, $400,000 loan to renovate a building for the centre’s operations. The city also entered 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.
Cornerstone for Recovery is a not-for-profit organization that has been offering a program which focuses on community based treatment since 2004.
Residents — men only until now — are provided with a 90-day stay that includes family counselling and re-employment training.
The program is heavily subsidized to allow access to those who need it and residents have free lifetime community after-care available to them.
Officials say there is a critical shortage of treatment centres for women in Ontario, as only a third of the available beds in this province are designated for women.
