NORTH BATTLEFORD - Community members and stakeholders came together Aug. 7 for a tour and talk at the Battlefords Treatment Centre in North Battleford that provides treatment for people with drug and alcohol addictions.
One client, here called "Lucy," (SaskToday is not disclosing her real name to protect her privacy), said the centre has provided a healing journey in her life.
"I knew I needed it in my life. I was, you know, a product of my addictions," she said. "I was actually quite successful for a long time working as a nurse, and then I got into addictions and I basically lost everything that I had. I was just on a very bad path. It affected my health as well."
Lucy said she had a stroke.
"It was killing me," she said.
"Even knowing that I was still drinking. It was kind of at that point where I just said: 'Enough is enough.' I had always wanted to come here when I thought about sobriety because it's my community. My family's here," Lucy said.
She said when she finally got into the rehab program she was excited at having a new start.
Lucy said one of the program leads challenged her when she came in, and that's what she needed.
"It made me delve deeper into those feelings that I was feeling and having a healthy way of moving on in my path to recovery," she said.
Taking part in the cultural practices has also helped her.
"That's part of who I am," Lucy said.
Other clients also shared their stories of hope and the healing journey to sobriety and away from their addictions.
Battlefords Treatment Centre is an extension of Poundmaker's Lodge Treatment Centres, a well known service in the addiction treatment community.
Carla Jamison, community engagement officer with Poundmaker's Lodge Treatment Centres, said the Battlefords Treatment Centre is a good choice for clients seeking help.
"We're a 14-bed facility and it's a 42-day program that clients can come to. They have connection to culture, they have connection to addiction counsellors and any other resources that might be available to them," she said.
A tour of the facility showed some of the resources that clients have access to. That includes a cultural room, a crafts room, a meals service, a TV room and a gym.
Darlene Marchuk, clinical director, of Poundmaker's Lodge Treatment Centres, said the Battlefords Treatment Centre, which has been open for about a year now, offers a holistic lens in its treatment approach.
"That includes your emotional, mental, physical and spiritual [sides]," she said. "The ceremony, the Elders, the knowledge keepers, the knowledge holders in our community. Bringing that all together and helping to heal the spirit. And the physical is important as well too, to bring a person back into balance. So, all four quadrants of a person's life are very, very important."
She noted while the facility offers Indigenous cultural practices, it is open to everyone.
"Anybody can come to us," she said.
