Residents in Recovery are receiving community support in droves as the organization looks to keep their downtown centre open.
Near the end of January, Program Director Tyler Lorenz announced that the facility was closing down unless they could collect $35,000. In just two weeks, the organization has almost half the funding in order to catch up on their bills and keep the centre open for another month.
“The community has really come together to support us. We have a number of fundraising events coming up over the next couple of weeks. We are pretty hopeful that we will hit our goal and keep the centre open.”
Lorenz says going public was a hard decision due to those who receive treatment at the centre.
“We had to weigh the impact the announcement would have on the clients we don’t want to spear them into relapse. Things had to get pretty bad before we made the announcement.”
The organization hit a roadblock after hopes that it would receive government funding it applied for last summer. Lorenz says the organization is still hoping to receive government funding at some point this year.
“Once we’re caught up we’re not quite as desperate. We just have to get through till May when we have a large golf tournament fundraiser which will cover us for four to six months,” Lorenz says once this month’s goal is met, the organization will continue with fundraising efforts.
For anyone looking to donate, events will be held throughout the month to help the organization reach its goal. There will be a lunch on February 8th and 15th at the Olive Tree, an indoor garage sale at the Residents in Recovery Office on February 15th and a bottle drive on February 22nd with proceeds going towards the Residents in Recovery Society.