New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community has expanded programming with a wing to care for women, two-spirit and gender-diverse people who’ve experienced long-standing challenges with addiction, incarceration and housing instability.
B.C.’s health minister celebrated the launch Wednesday afternoon, joined by regional mayors and representatives of the Canadian Mental Health Association at the site on Talcott Road.
“We have received some really beautiful feedback from some of the centres first women – and they call themselves ‘the first ladies,” Josie Osborne said.
“One woman said. ‘I like that it’s only for women. It feels safer for me due to my trauma.’ Another remarked, ‘I wanted a program that was long so I wouldn’t be rushed.’”
The 20-bed facility is run by Our Place Society. Clients can stay for up to two years to help break the cycle of addiction – which is similar to a men’s program on a separate part of the property.
“The women that are applying to our program are telling us that they want to recover. They want to reclaim their lives so that they can get their children back. And they want to provide a loving, stable home for their children,” says Lee Sundquist, manager of New Roads Women’s Therapeutic Recovery Community.
“At New Roads, women on the island will finally have access to the treatment that they need and deserve without the heartbreaking choice of leaving everything behind. The barriers that I once faced will no longer be barriers for them – and for that I am so grateful.”
The wing for the women’s site was built on a separate part of the property to the men’s program. It was initially forecast to open last summer.
The province says substance-use support services for women were also expanded in Vancouver, Nanaimo and Kelowna in 2024 with 24 treatment beds – and that its committed to expanding options in all regions of B.C.
