A long-established resource centre in Penticton, B.C., will officially close its doors at the end of this month.
Pathways Addictions Resource Centre has been operating for close to 50 years. A team of five councillors supported around 1000 people with drug and alcohol addiction challenges per year.
“It’s been a great support for many people over the years and it’s really heartwarming to see how much good it’s done,” said Pathways Board Secretary Jeff Everden.
The closure comes as a result of Interior Health’s controversial decision to cancel its contract with the centre and pull all funding two years ago.
Interior Health has provided $500,000 in annual funding to the centre.
“What happened was in the spring of 2021, they repatriated our contracts, and they gave us three months’ notice and then we no longer had any funding through Interior Health,” said Pathways Board Chair Sherry Ure.
“Interior Health is working to bring all those sorts of treatment programs and counselling in-house and that was the reasoning behind it.”
The initial announcement, two years ago, sparked public uproar. Following a number of protests, and pleas to city council and government officials, Pathways reopened in 2021 under a new model and relied on small grants and community support to keep going.
“We had a huge community response and that is why we were able to stay open for two years after our contracts were repatriated. It was solely based on the donorship of the people of this community,” said Ure.
“The community reached out and just really were there for us. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough.”
Moving forward, the board and staff are hoping to find a way to continue supporting the community. According to the release, staff will continue to provide services in private clinics, and their Community Outreach programs will continue under the joint partnership of counselors Mike Mai and Aaron Esler.
“I think is going to be a lovely legacy for Pathways,” said Ure. “We’re also hoping that we are going to find homes for many of our programs. We’re reaching out, speaking to a number of organizations, and hopefully, we’ll find homes for many of our groups.”
Pathways is encouraging people to reach out to Interior Health for help as the health authority has indicated that they would take over the services and counselling that Pathways has traditionally offered.
If community members are struggling to access Interior Health’s services, the centre recommends reaching out to other local services.
“We would direct you to the other great services that the community has to offer including SOWINS, Discovery House, OneSky Community Resources, Ooknakane Friendship Centre, and Ask Wellness Society Penticton to name a few,” read the Pathways release.
“The Penticton & Area Access Centre published a “Little Red Book of Resources” that may be helpful for some people.”
The space that Pathways has called home for the last five decades, is now up for rent.
However next door, in the same building, the South Okanagan Similkameen Brain Injury Society says they will continue to operate their services in the same space.
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