The new 54-unit Skaha Lake Road supportive housing in Penticton set to open this June with a focus on recovery and healing may be the first of its kind in B.C., said Bob Hughes, director of ASK Wellness Society.

Shauna Fox, executive director of the Ooknakane Friendship Centre along with Hughes, presented a brief overview to city council last week of how they envision the Snpa蕯x虒t蓹ntn will work.

The BC Housing project is named Snpa蕯x虒t蓹ntn in the Syilx language, which translates to Healing House.

This type of recovery housing doesn鈥檛 exist anywhere else, confirmed Hughes from a question about where else this model has been tried before.

If this new recovery-based housing works, it could be a model for the rest of the province, council said.

The innovation of this program is residents living there are expected to live free of non-subscribed medications and other substances, he said. This is long-term housing, unlike most treatment programs that are 30 to 90 days long.

鈥淐reating a community adhering to recovery, we鈥檒l see better results,鈥� Hughes said.

Kenneth Scott is the coordinator of Burdock House and he will be the lead on the opening of Snpa蕯x虒t蓹ntn, said Hughes.

鈥淗omelessness and addictions and issues related to this have presented tremendous challenges on communities. We鈥檝e seen with our shelter services are in extreme demand, and supportive housing has had criticism in this community,鈥� said Hughes.

鈥淩elapse is always a possibility but falling back into the streets is something we need to intervene in. For those with an opioid dependence, they are working with Interior Health for subscribed supply including suboxone.

鈥淲e are conscious that this needs to land properly. We aren鈥檛 going to be racing to fill the building. This is a new way of delivering recovery,鈥� he added.

A minimum of 30 per cent of the beds will be allocated to Indigenous people, said Fox.

There will be 24/7 staff, Hughes promised. Residents will have access to two meals per day. Staff will include housing support workers, peer recovery support coaches, employment rehabilitation workers, a drug and alcohol counsellor and a cultural support worker.

This is not the first time a project in Penticton run by ASK Wellness has been promised with supports. The Burdock House, when it opened in 2019, also promised that its 鈥渨rap-around supports will help people heal from the experience of being homeless and give them a stable foundation on which to build a better life.鈥�

An audit of BC Housing鈥檚 projects in Penticton in 2022 found a shortfall of supports and necessary services for people living in Burdock House.

This is what prompted city council to get a letter of agreement with BC Housing in order to allow a permit for the two-acre site.

BC Housing is under obligation to publish a report after one year to see how Snpa蕯x虒t蓹ntn is operating, said Mayor Julius Bloomfield last week.

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