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The British Columbia New Hope Recovery Society is pleased to announce a $3.6 Million charitable donation from TEG Master Partnership.
TEG Master Partnership’s donation to the Society marks one of the largest single corporate charitable donations made in the Province of British Columbia in recent history. This is a compelling story which reminds us of the possibilities offered to those in need when we commit ourselves as agents of change.
Today, The England Group will host a celebratory reception at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver to publicly thank the generosity and support of TEG Master Partnership’s 3,200 BC-based clients who made this donation possible.
“Thanks to the generosity of these donors, BC New Hope Recovery Society will be in a better position to provide year-long residential treatment for people with serious substance use disorders,” said Rich Coleman, Deputy Premier and Minister Responsible for Housing. “The Province appreciates the role these businesses are playing to improve people’s physical and mental health and rebuild their lives.”
This donation will be invested in order to yield long-term cash flow and will be available to fund ongoing and future obligations and initiatives of the Society which operates Baldy Hughes Therapeutic Community & Farm in partnership with the Province of British Columbia.
“When I presented this proposal to our investors I knew I was taking a leap of faith – there are so many deserving charities out there – but their response was just overwhelming,” said Kevin England, President and CEO of The England Group. “Tonight is all about acknowledging their generosity and raising awareness for Baldy Hughes. Addiction takes a serious toll on communities in BC and Baldy Hughes offers a unique solution to families and their loved ones who are struggling. I can tell you that everyone involved is incredibly moved by this act of kindness and the legacy it leaves – it’s just a wonderful thing to be able to celebrate.”
“This donation is an amazing example of how the citizens of BC open up their hearts and help each other,” said Rodger Travale, Executive Director of Baldy Hughes Therapeutic Community & Farm. “Recovery from addiction is not a miracle, but yet we rely on miracles to give us what we need for the work we do each and every day. Our thanks to the men and women who have the vision and compassion to make Baldy Hughes the exceptional and unique place it is today.”
Ministers Rustad & Bond are joined by Baldy Hughes board members and residents
Minister John Rustad and Minister Shirley Bond visited Baldy Hughes today to announce new funding of $1 million for our Therapeutic Community.
The funding will go to opening and operating 20 new beds, including increasing staffing with the addition of three full-time registered nurses and one full-time occupational therapist.
Minister Bond speaks with two of our new healthcare staff members.
These new positions complement the existing services offered at Baldy Hughes, which include support from psychiatric nurses, a psychiatrist, general practitioner, licensed practical nurse and clinical counsellor. Baldy Hughes has already been able to open up the 20 beds, and has filled 13 of them so far.
Recovery services offered at Baldy Hughes occur over a year, including an intensive 12-step group program, animal and horticultural farm programs, vocational training, intensive counselling, occupational therapy, leadership and civic roles, and health and fitness activities.
Baldy Hughes offers a total of 65 beds and graduates between two and five men per month.
Ministers Bond and Rustad were joined in today’s announcement by Kevin England, BC New Hope Recovery Society President, and Rodger Travale, Baldy Hughes Executive Director.
Residents were proud to show their program phase displays to our visitors.
Community representatives from The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, Prince George Regional Correctional Centre, Forensic Psychiatric Services and School District 57 joined us for the event, and were entertained by members of our community band.
Event participants also enjoyed a tour of our program displays, created by our residents.
For more information, please review the official funding announcement of the Ministry of Health, released earlier today.
We thank our supporters, particularly the Ministry of Health, for their support of our community!
The summer of 2015 will be remembered as a pivotal season in our evolution as a farming community. Our barn, livestock pens, greenhouse and outdoor growing areas all have been undergoing a dramatic development, both in functionality and look. We are excited to share this brief photo essay, showing a few “before” and “after” photos of the barn and some of the wonderful new features our residents have added over the past few months. Just click on the photos for a full-size view!
Exterior of barn before renovations.
Exterior of barn after renovations.
Laying concrete floor inside the barn.
Interior of barn after upgrades.
New landscaping features around our greenhouse.
A new cabin for our goats.
Goats enjoying their new concrete jungle playground.
Our new tractor works a new outdoor growing area.
Shirley Bond, MLA cuts the ribbon and officially opens our new commercial kitchen.
June 27 2015 was a marquee day at Baldy Hughes, with three ceremonies and visitors from government, program partners and founders of Baldy Hughes joining residents and staff in a day of celebrations.
A resident member of our culinary program explains how we make home-made goat cheese.
Our day commenced with the ribbon cutting ceremony to open our new commercial kitchen. This was a joyous conclusion to a two-year project that not only saw the construction of the new facility, but the migration of our culinary program from our decades-old, former kitchen into a state-of-the-art instructional facility.
Shirley Bond, Prince George-Valemount MLA was our official ribbon cutter and was joined by BC New Hope Recovery Society Board Members and Founders for a complete tour of the kitchen.
Graduates are addressed by Shirley Bond and other dignitaries.
After that ceremony, our visitors moved on to our auditorium for our annual Graduation Ceremony. This was a moving event, with messages of hope, optimism and success being shared by and for the graduates of our 12-month program and recipients of the BC Certificate of Education (Dogwood Diploma).
Guests, residents and staff honoured 14 graduates of the 12-month program and the seven men who have finished their high school program since June 2014.
After a tour of the entire site that followed the graduation, the entire community gathered at our new flag poles for an official flag raising ceremony. This is the first time that flags have been raised on this site in almost a decade. It was also a proud moment as we unveiled for the first time our very own Baldy Hughes flag.
Shirley Bond lead by raising the BC Flag, Malachy Tohill of BC Housing then raised the Canadian flag, and Baldy Hughes founder Lorne Mayencourt raised our new flag.
The flags came in handy again, on Canada Day as we held our first ever Citizenship Affirmation Ceremony for our entire community.
Shirley Bond raises the BC flag.
Lorne Mayencourt raises the Baldy Hughes flag.
All three flags flying high!
We thank every member of our community, our guests, our board of directors and staff members for all their work in creating these memorable events.
There is often a misconception in society that recovery from addiction means to simply break away from a substance misuse problem – that successful recovery from addiction is solely measured by clean time. But is it really just a matter of quantity of clean time, rather than the quality of time?
Experiencing recovery in a therapeutic community provides a way out of self-destructive behavior for those who were previously thought to be beyond recovery. The primary goal of a therapeutic community is to foster individual change and promote positive growth. This is accomplished by changing an individual’s lifestyle through a community of concerned people working together to help themselves and each other.
Being part of something greater than oneself is an important factor in facilitating positive growth. Therapeutic communities offer a holistic approach in regards to treating the whole person and not just the addiction.
In the therapeutic community treatment model, a number of strategies are employed, including the concept of “work therapy”.
A few of the benefits of a work therapy program include:
- The development of a sense of personal responsibility, in that all residents are involved in the daily operation of the community, including cleaning, meal preparation, maintenance, schedule coordination, and meetings.
- Job assignments provide residents with a sense of responsibility and affiliation with the community.
- Work roles provide opportunities for self-examination, personal growth, and skill development.
The work therapy component of a therapeutic community complements 12 step programming, in which the concept of “service” is a critical factor in sustained sobriety. By fulfilling various roles within the community, and potentially spending a month or two at the end of one’s residency in a service capacity, residents gain tremendous experiences while working for the benefit of the community, in addition to gaining a myriad of skills and new levels of personal awareness.
In addition to experiencing a return of one’s dignity and self-confidence, and the development of transferrable skills for future employment, there is also the unique experience of finding value in one’s life – of finding a “place” in the world, and re-discovering who one really is. There is also the experience of moving from the cycle of addiction, loss, trauma and rejection, to a new experience of people taking a chance on you, believing in you, and providing hope and opportunity for advancement.
A perfect example of this here at Baldy Hughes is our Extended Recovery Employment program. This program provides opportunities for residents to remain at Baldy Hughes beyond their one year program, to continue living on site, working in a variety of capacities, earning a wage, and participating in community activities. It is one of many rewards that may be provided to those residents who demonstrated a genuine desire to undergo positive change, and made significant contributions to community life throughout the duration of their stay. During the Extended Recovery Employment program, residents are able to start re-connecting with the outside world in an independent capacity and have an enhanced opportunity to clarify their future employment and living plans, to refine their resume, engage in educational activities and proudly cross the bridge back into society as responsible, productive citizens.
John Rath (left) leads a 12 Step Study Group with Baldy Hughes residents.
One of our current Extended Recovery program employees is John Rath. John first entered Baldy Hughes as a resident in 2013 for six months, and after a brief time away from the community, returned for another 12 months as a resident. In 2014 while still a resident, he was asked to join the redevelopment of our 12 Step Program, and served as a co-facilitator in this phase for three months. He also became a resident leader, joined the culinary program, and worked outdoors. John graduated from the program in February 2015, and since then has been employed as the 12 Step Phase Facilitator at Baldy Hughes.
“When I first arrived at Baldy Hughes, the need for major personal change was very evident. I required a long term program in order to develop the skill set needed to be a productive member of society, and to stay sober on a daily basis,” says John. “It was a lot of work, but the work paid off. Now I have started on a new career path that I never thought imaginable, and my daily experience of getting to share a message of hope with others who are still struggling is very rewarding. Learning to work, while learning about who I am, and what my potential is, was an extraordinary opportunity that I was afforded here at Baldy Hughes.”
Rodger Travale, Baldy Hughes’ Executive Director, has made the creation of work opportunities a strategic priority in program development, and has witnessed many similar success stories in residents and graduates over recent years.
“What a pleasure it is to see residents make the journey from being broken individuals, entering our community for the first time and surrendering to the powerlessness of their active addictions, through to becoming resident staff members, helping to evolve our community, and serving for an extended period of time as role models and mentors for newer residents,” says Rodger. “It truly is an emotional experience for all of us, to walk alongside men who are experiencing the struggles and challenges of early recovery, then later becoming healthy and whole individuals, and being of service to fellow addicts and the community – here at Baldy Hughes, and in towns and cities throughout Canada.”
