REGINA – More addictions treatment spaces are opening up in Saskatchewan this month, thanks to a partnership between the province, Oxford House Saskatchewan and the City of Regina.
The province is opening 22 new sober living spaces this month in Regina to be located in four residential homes located in Regina, with Oxford House overseeing day to day programming.
According to the province the goal is to fill a gap in recovery for those who have finished up their addictions treatment, but who still need stable recovery housing afterwards.
“Oxford Health is able to provide supported living for individuals who are coming out of treatment and need to be able to rebuild their lives in a place where they're going to be able to really thrive,” said Minister of Social Services Terry Jenson.
Mark Soloway, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford House Saskatchewan, said they have people “already booked and moving in as we speak.” One of the houses is completely full already, and they still have one house left that they expect to bring online by the end of the month.
Soloway said each of these homes will help people in need of a safe and sober place to live. He said what Oxford House offers is peer support so that “everybody in the house is on the path of recovery, so they're able to help one another out.”
They also offer two programs, one being their Living Skills Program where they teach people how to cook a meal, make a bed, clean a house, do laundry, and so on. The other program helps them develop broad skills to be able to find work or connect people again to family or community.
The aim is for those participants to be “reintegrating into society, because you just don't want to go back in the same environment you came from,” said Soloway.
As for how long people stay, Soloway said one of the biggest features of Oxford House is that “we don't have an upper limit.”
“People can stay with us as long as they need. Everybody's recovery journey is a little different, right? So some folks may be able to go to treatment and be out in six months, and they're good. Other folks may need a year, two years. We even have had members stay with us as long as five years until they were ready to transition back into the community.”
Up to now Oxford House has provided 91 sober living spaces in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert.
Minister Jenson said they had been in Prince Albert two weeks earlier to unveil four homes in PA in that city for individuals to be able to help rebuild their lives following addictions treatment.
Officials touted the success of Oxford House, whose programs have shown 71 per cent sobriety at six months and over 93 per cent after a year.
“And again, this is something that we're really, really proud to work with Oxford Health on because it's a formula that works,” Jenson said. “It really does allow Oxford Health to work with the individual and to ensure that they stay on a path of recovery that will lead to a really healthy life going forward.”
Funding is being provided by the Ministry of Social Services through the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation with $900,000 toward the acquisition and renovation of the spaces. The Ministry of Health is providing $250,000 annual funding to Oxford House Saskatchewan for the sober living services, with over $486,000 coming from Oxford House Saskatchewan and $100,000 from the City of Regina.
The new housing coming on board this month also will add 22 spaces to the 333 new addictions treatment spaces already in place in Saskatchewan, moving the province closer to reaching their goal of 500 new treatment spaces by March 2027.
