Addiction recovery centre opening Bonnyville location

Lloydminster rehabilitation centre Residents in Recovery will be opening a Bonnyville office soon.

The tentative date for the opening is July 1st, though executive director Tyler Lorenz predicts the date will be postponed to July 15 due to flooding.

“We’re really excited to get into Bonnyville, and the house is all ready to be filled,” said Lorenz. “It’s actually scheduled to get filled up with Bonnyville people, and we’re looking to find another house for females, so hopefully we can get that started right away.”

The centre, which opened its doors in 2018, focuses on providing aid to individuals struggling with addiction and mental health issues through sober living and daily outreach programs.

The move comes from the centre receiving applications from Bonnyville as well as Cold Lake and Elk Point.

It has remained completely community funded though fundraisers and donors since its inception in Lloydminster, which will continue into the Bonnyville locations.

Applications for the centre can be found online.

“You can always call us, and we’ll walk you through the process,” said Lorenz. “You do have to be seven days clean and sober. If somebody is in active addiction and wants to come into the house, we’ll figure out a time when we have a bed available, and we’ll get them into detox at the Thorpe (Lloydminster Recovers Centre) so they can come right into the house for detox.” 

The current plan is to have three staff members staying in the house while the rest of the space will be occupied by rehabilitation residents.

Lorenz hopes to get the pilot house settled as soon as possible so that the centre can put focus on establishing a female-oriented house.

“It’s about two or three to one, male to female for sure. That being said a lot of the female cases are women trying to turn their life around,” said Lorenz. “They’re maybe at risk of losing their kids permanently.  Those are really desperate cases, but they’re really motivated to get help. Unfortunately, we just don’t have the capacity right now, and our female house always has had a substantial waiting list on it.

“We look forward to being up there. I can’t wait to be up in Bonnyville. We’ve worked with a number of different agencies up there and we’re eager to build a strong relationship with them all. If anybody has a house up there or two, give me a call. I’d love to see if we could use it for another sober living home.”

If you’re interested in helping Residents in Recovery get established in Bonnyville, call Tyler Lorenz at 877-201-3955