A drug and alcohol consultation was held at the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) building in Thompson on Jan. 19 put on by John Donovan, director of the AFM's Northern region, and Tammy Lee Marche with BullMarket Consulting.
Donovan began the meeting my reminding guests about the 2005 community consultation that was put on by the AFM to try to identify a community plan driven by the national homeless strategy and the national drug strategy. He says the issues that continuously came up for Thompson include the creation of a detox centre, a community connector to help network between agencies and dry socials, four or five of which have already taken place in the community.
Since the consultation the AFM has applied for national drug strategy funding to have a position in place that was initially housed by the City of Thompson. The position was later transferred to the homeless shelter after the organization came under leadership of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) in Thompson.
According to Donovan, a meeting in 2008 reaffirmed the same priorities and created a community plan - which is required by the national homeless strategy since Thompson is a designated community that receives $180,000 per year of funding.
Different agencies in town are now taking the next step at looking at where they need to go to deal with substance abuse issues. Some of the organizations that offer help in this area include the YWCA, Macdonald Youth Services, the Mood Disorders Association, the Thompson Homeless Shelter, the Boys & Girls Club and the AFM.
One of the biggest issues that was brought up at the consultation was the lack of affordable housing for students between the ages of 16 and 29, especially single parents. The cost of living in Thompson was also talked about since the amount of money people receive on welfare often is not enough to cover the basic needs of young people, leading, in some circumstances, to them turning to criminal activity or admitting themselves into treatment so they have somewhere to stay for at least a month.
Another issues that was discussed focused on the fact that many people dealing with alcohol and substance abuse problems also have mental illnesses and disorders - which, in many cases, springs from their problem but does not help them get over it, but the mental health program at the Burntwood Regional Health Authority (BRHA) does not have ongoing counselling available to people unless they are severely depressed. A lack of family counsellors in town was also talked about, along with a lack of resources for young people that are suffering from anxiety and depression - a common occurrence with an average of one in three people dealing with the issues.
Kim Hickes, a representative from the Boys & Girls Club in Thompson, talked about how funding cuts to many agencies have made it difficult to find more staff and more resources, and many agencies in town will not let kids participate in their programs if they are known to be involved in a gang.
Robert Kirkwood, who sits on the board of directors of the CMHA, said at the consultation that there is far more homelessness in Thompson than many people realize - even up to 100 people living on the street - which causes a major problem as the homeless shelter only has 24 beds.
"Community perception is that the people should go home - they must have homes somewhere. But a lot of them don't because of drug and alcohol problems - they've burned their bridges and can't go back to their family and their own life," he explains, stressing the fact that no one willingly chooses homelessness as a way of life.
Donovan says that another topic brought up at the consultation was that a lot of children who are struggling in the school system could possibly benefit from some type of alternative school.
The consultation is part of a request from the National Drug Strategy and the National Homeless Strategy that the AFM puts on every two years.
"We've been doing it as well just to be able to make sure that, as agencies for the addictions part for which we're responsible, we listen to local concerns from the community and to make sure that we're providing service where we can and supporting projects where we need to," Donovan says.
