The Sarah Tracy Centre for Women, located near Fredericton, is closing its doors due to lack of sustainable funding.
The centre stopped accepting patients in July and will be temporarily closed starting December 1, 2016.
Bridges of Canada Chief Development Officer Misty McLaughlin told Global News the organization had a plan in place for funding but they ran out of time to raise the money they needed to keep the doors open.
Shannon Bird recently received several months of treatment at the centre and said it changed her life. Bird said she spent ten years suffering from an addiction to drugs and alcohol after her mother passed away. She said she couldn’t hold down a job, pay her bills or function and her father gave her information about the centre after he realized she had an addiction.
“For eight months I didn’t have to worry about having to explain to somebody about all that’s going on in my head and feeling emotionally — it’s understood by the women that are there,” Bird said.
Now 284 days sober, Bird said she wants other women to have access to the type of care she received.
“You don’t want to see somebody lose out on that chance to gain what I’ve gained,” Bird said.
McLaughlin said the board of directors made the decision to close until they can secure sustainable funding and said they have every intention of opening up again. McLaughlin said the centre needs to be accredited — which could take up to five years to achieve.
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“We’re looking at Accreditation Canada, that is the accreditation body that also does the accreditation for Portage here in New Brunswick as well,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin said they want to become a recognizable service provider to government so they can have a ‘fee for service arrangement’. She said she’s reached out to government and has had “great dialog”.
The organization is looking to secure a private investor through a social impact bond to finance the centre. McLaughlin said a return on investment would then “go back to the investor.”
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson from the Department of Health said the government is currently reviewing the centre’s business proposal.
“As no decisions have been made it would be premature to comment further,” the spokesperson said.
“At the end of the day you’ve got an organization that’s committed to this mission, you’ve got a team of professionals that have relationships built with these clients. Their families are affected and this centre is going to sit empty,” said McLaughlin.
There are 21 empty beds at the treatment centre while they await funding.
Conservative MLA Jeff Carr said there has to be a creative way the government can look at investing in these types of addiction services programs.
“We know, and the public knows, that investment in addiction programs saves millions of dollars in the health care as well as the justice system,” Carr said.
The facility is located in Tracy, N.B. and offers long-term programs to women who suffer from addiction or mental health issues. McLaughlin said the centre has a mix of people sent there through the criminal justice system, as well as those who self-refer.
Bridges of Canada opened the facility in 2014.
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