Lennon Recovery House taking shape in Rustico

It has been a summer of ups and downs for a P.E.I. mother working to establish a new recovery house in honour of her son.

DianneYoung and the board of theLennonRecovery House Association were given the keys toBelcourtCentre in Rustico, P.E.I., in May.

"There's huge potential here and it's just been sometimes overwhelming," said Young.

"It is a blessing definitely to have this building donated, that being said, we have a lot of work to do."

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Young's son, Lennon Waterman, took his life in 2013. He struggled with both mental illness and drug addictions for more than a decade before his death.

Long list of renos

The first step in getting the centre open isto determine what it's going to take to transform the former spiritual retreat into a not-for-profit, in-patient recovery home.

"We've had supplies donated, we've had people donate their time," said Young.

We have a long way to go but I see that this house brings hope to people now.- DianneYoung

"We do have some funding. That's going to run out fast when we get the house up to fire code, for instance a steel door is over $500and we need five [doors]."

There's a long list of repairs, including a kitchen upgrade,a boiler room in the basement, repairs to the roof and lots of painting.

"We can't be in a rush to do this, we have to do it properly, we need to have a plan," said Young. "We're going to get it done, it's just going to take a little bit of time."

After care

There is also a programming committee at work designing what the recovery house will offer, which Young describes as "alternative treatment."

"They have the medical model, where people are in detox and then in transition," she said.

"We'll fill the gap when people come out of transition, we will have after care services, we'll have life skills, we'll have education, we'll have counselling, we'll have therapies music therapy, art therapy, we want to have yoga."

The program will start, Young said, with 30 people going through the intake process.

"They would have had detox and they would have had some kind of treatment," she said.

Young envisions the third floor of the centre could also have one-bedroom apartments where people could stay for as long as a year after treatment.

Funding still to come

The operating costs for Lennon House would be covered, in part, by people paying to stay there, which Young says can cost tens of thousands of dollars to send someone off Island.

The group has also applied for federal funding, but Young said they're not far enough along yet to apply for provincial funding.

"I'm sure the provincial government is well aware of what we're doing, and I have had support from politicians."

The project has also received financial support from the community, in particular from parents who also lost children to addiction or mental health struggles.

There has also been support from the Catholic community, including $4,000 from the Catholic Women's League, and an anonymous $50,000 donation.

Originally, Lennon House was supposed to open in November, but Young saidthey still have too much work to do to set a firm opening date.

"I just really love it here, it's peaceful here, and it just gives me hope, because there are a lot of people hurting," she said.

"We have a long way to go, but I see that this house brings hope to people now."

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