Ray of hope, big step forward for men's recovery house in Kamloops
A men’s addiction recovery centre in Kamloops recently received some encouraging news.
After a long journey, The Blue House Society has finally been granted charitable tax status.
“It gives us the ability to write tax receipts to people and businesses making donations,” said executive director, Sean Marshall. “This will help us move forward confidently with community fundraising and program development.”
The Blue House is a seven-bedroom recovery home located downtown that provides a sober environment for men taking back their lives after suffering through addiction. The model is filling dangerous and unfortunate gaps in our system. It relies on community donations to operate, something the new tax status will open up.
“For those making really large donations, this is significant,” Marshall said. “We are now able to go after bigger businesses and donations. Attaining the tax status wasn’t easy, being a lengthy federal application process. We are so thankful.”
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The Blue House was started by ASK Wellness in 2018, which tried to hand it off to local agencies that specialized in addictions. The Blue House Society formed to take on the program, the first and only one of its kind in the city. It was registered as a society in 2019.
Clients that arrive at the sanctuary have typically completed a 60- to 90-day sobriety program, which is why what is offered at the Blue House is called second stage recovery. The men come out of their programs in need of funds and housing.
The affordable housing situations they are able to access are typically exposed to triggering open drug and alcohol use. The men need somewhere to live that is abstinence-based, he said. They are offered up to a year-long stay at The Blue House.
“It is a safe, sober place where they get the tools and community resources they need to move forward,” Marshall said. “They start rebuilding what addictions stole from them all those years — their health, family relationships, their kids.”
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It costs around $31,000 dollars per year to keep the doors open. Marshall said from time to time grants come up but up until now he has not been awarded one.
“It takes a lot of time to fill in the applications for grants,” he said. “And we are not equipped with professional non-profit grant writers. It is frustrating. Without sustainable funding resources we can only do what we can do. This new status will help.”
Marshall said his team wants to expand to open a second men’s recovery house as well as one for women. He said in the last three years his team has received a huge amount of support from the community.
During this time of housing shortages and drug overdoses, every little win is a ray of hope.
The Blue House follows the 12-step model which provides a structured program that has regular meetings and encourages the use of a sponsor. Support groups help guide each participant through the 12 steps which become a way to develop their own recovery plan, both to begin recovery and as a tool to keep oneself in balance as a new life of sobriety is lived out.
To make a donation of needed items or funding, or to learn more about the program click here.
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