A 91大黄鸭 mother is sharing her story in order to raise awareness on how great the need is for a youth recovery centre in the Okanagan.
Kimberly Christianson lost her daughter Chelsea to an overdose. She said her daughter passed away while she was waiting to get into a treatment centre three and a half years ago.
鈥淚 strongly believe in this centre, especially for youth. I think youth need specialized treatment,鈥� she said.
鈥淭hey need people who understand how to speak to youth and how to get to the core issues and not just focus on the drug use, but what led to the drug use.鈥�
Now, Christianson is sharing her story through The Bridge Youth and Family Services in the hopes it will resonate within the community and encourage more people to get behind the non-profit鈥檚 project.
鈥淪upporting our youth is so important. We need to show youth that they鈥檙e valued and cared for.鈥�
鈥淓arly intervention is what we need to prevent future issues, to prevent these long-term consequences of untreated illness,鈥� she added.
The Bridge鈥檚 executive director Celine Thompson said they鈥檙e nearly finished with Phase 1 of the project and they鈥檙e hoping that they can open the recovery house鈥檚 doors within a year.
The treatment centre will be a six-bed facility for young people under the age of 19.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had such incredible support from the community. Our quest now is really two things: one is money. We need the funds to be able to open the doors,鈥� Thompson said.
鈥淭he other thing is we really need our partners to spread awareness. When people know about the story and know how compelling it is, it builds strong community support.鈥�
The project started two short years ago but with overdose deaths continually increasing, the treatment centre can鈥檛 come fast enough, Thompson said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an incredible degree of risk in this community for our young people. We鈥檙e losing many people to overdose and even for those who don鈥檛 pass away, the struggles that they鈥檙e going through are profound,鈥� she said.
鈥淲ithout a live-in treatment centre that has that specialist skill, they鈥檙e either getting lost on our streets or we鈥檙e sending them away outside of this community to get their health needs met.鈥�
Christianson said she hopes more members of the Central Okanagan community gets behind the project.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want other families and youth to go through what we went through and for youth to not have the opportunity to get better,鈥� she said.
鈥淢y daughter Chelsea passed away on the waitlist. She wanted help and it just wasn鈥檛 available to her so she never got the chance, but I want other young people to have that chance to heal.鈥�
For more information on the Bridge鈥檚 youth recovery house project and to donate, visit .
READ: 91大黄鸭 myaor joins fundraiser for youth addiction treatment
