This past weekend, Lloydminster came together to celebrate and show support on Recovery Day and also witness the new Residents in Recovery building.
Recovery Day took place on September 8th to celebrate recovery and inspire those who are still struggling with addiction. Residents in Recovery Program Director Tyler Lorenz says 120 people showed up to this year’s Recovery Day, exceeding the 80-100 they expected.
“The response was great, it was beautiful weather, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves and the speakers were awesome. I think it was received very well and was definitely the best one we’ve had.”
Lorenz says next year’s event will take place on September 7th, following the same format as this year. Planning for the event will take place in the new year.
“We had amazing speakers this year, we had a number of speakers from out of town. It will be tough to top next year but we will start working on that right away.”
The open house for the new Residents in Recovery building took place on September 7th in connection with Recovery Day. The program has just started up with a new location downtown looking to provide people with addiction services in Lloydminster. Lorenz says about 60-70 people came to the open house.
“The office was packed. it was good to see everyone come out and check out what we are doing. It was amazing really.”
The Residents in Recovery program started on September 10th with around 10 people participating in addiction services. The maximum space the building holds is 15, but more boardrooms will be constructed to fit 30. The non-profit is currently looking for more funding to help with renovations. All funding for the program is through community donations.
“We’re applying for municipal and provincial funding but that won’t kick in till 2019. We really are running month to month right now.”
Anyone looking to donate to the program can do so on the LRHF website or drop off cash or cheque and let them know it’s for Residents in Recovery.
“Whatever barriers they are facing we are here to help them work through those. We are here to give them the help they need and help them get back on track.”