KEREMEOS – A Keremeos facility for young people struggling with addiction is set to re-open next year.
The Crossing at Keremeos made headlines when in closed in March 2015.
At the time, the province and the organization operating the facility blamed each other for the shut down.
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Now Victoria says the site will be re-opening in 2017 as “an enhanced, specialized, residential treatment program” for people between the ages of 17 and 24 “with substance use disorders that have not been successfully addressed in community programs.”
It’s welcome news for the mayor of Keremeos who had pledged, from the beginning, to try and reverse the closure.
“Council and the communities in the Lower Similkameen Valley are looking forward to opening our hearts again, to help young people who struggling with addiction back into a life free of substance use,” says Manfred Bauer.
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The organization that owns the buildings says the province has pledged to spend $2.6 million each year on the project but officials are still looking for a group to run the facility.
When it re-opens, the facility will be able to accommodate up to 22 clients at a time.
– with files from Kelly Hayes