We've seen it time and time again: caring, compassionate recovery can restore lives. Yet recovery options for women in British Columbia are sparse.
In our last issue of Gratitude, we shared with you that UGM is establishing a presence in Greater Victoria. Now, we're humbled and excited to share that starting this July, we'll also be offering Women's Recovery in Langley!
UGM’s vision for women
UGM has long been known as a place where men can step into evidence-based, holistic recovery care. But when you can support women and men, you start to help entire families. “Our big, overarching vision is to really start seeing the interruption of trauma in children and in families,” says Tara, Senior Director of Women & Families Programs at UGM. “We want to dismantle trauma in really caring, thoughtful, gentle, and respectful ways, so that in the next generation that comes up, there are fewer people needing access to the kinds of supports and services that we provide.”
Meeting rising, hidden needs
With the addition of these two new locations for Women’s Recovery to UGM’s existing programming at Lydia Home and The Sanctuary, UGM has become a leading provider of recovery services for women in BC. This summer sees the total of stabilization and recovery beds for women at UGM rise to 52.
These new beds can’t come too soon. “The number of women in need of recovery support is always underreported,” says Tara. “Women face huge stigma, especially if you’re a mother — the kind of fear that keeps you from ever reaching out for help. All of this creates more need when it comes to women’s care.”
A suburban respite in Victoria
In Victoria, our new Women’s Recovery home is a beautiful private residence that will offer 6 beds to women who want to participate in recovery without leaving their community. The home features a yard, mature trees, and a welcoming atmosphere.
A rural oasis in Langley
UGM is also taking over programming and operations of a 40-acre Women’s Recovery Centre in Langley. The purpose-built facility offers 11 recovery beds, a gymnasium, a woodshop, pottery space, an active farm with chickens and ducks, and rolling fields in a peaceful, remote setting.
Plans are in place for both the recovery home and recovery centre to be open in July.
Supporting women with choice
Working in tandem with service providers in both Victoria and Langley, UGM is evolving to offer women recovery care suited to their varied and unique needs. “We want to keep increasing the options for women,” says Tara. “The small, more intimate setting of a recovery home, for example, will be an atmosphere some women will thrive in. Then there’s the recovery centre in Langley, which is a more rural setting. Nature has a direct connection to recovery, de-escalation, calming anxiety, and helping with depression. We want to place women in the environment where they're going to be most successful, feel the safest, and be able to flourish.”
When she walked into the Langley Women’s Recovery Centre for the first time, Tara felt an optimism she hopes that every woman will experience coming through the doors. “What I felt immediately was endless opportunities to be strategic, to vision, to dream. It felt like the beginning of even more to come.”
