Province promises $1.5M for 'critically important' Anne Oake women's recovery centre

Ozten Shebahkeget · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 3:17 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

A caller addictions betterment centre successful Winnipeg that promises to assistance women heal, without separating them from their children, is getting caller backing from the state arsenic enactment continues to get shovels into the ground.

The Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre, a 75,000-square-foot installation planned to beryllium built adjacent to the Victoria Hospital successful southbound Winnipeg, is getting $1.5 cardinal from the Manitoba government, the state said successful a quality merchandise connected Tuesday.

The Families section is earmarking $1 cardinal for the caller betterment centre's superior costs, portion the Department of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness is providing $500,000 for programming needs, the merchandise said.

Scott Oake, who founded the Bruce and Anne Oake Memorial Foundation, said that once built, the recovery centre volition person 50 to 70 beds for women seeking addictions attraction and for their children.

The centre is named aft his wife, Anne Oake, an addictions attraction advocator who died from an autoimmune illness successful 2021, soon aft the mates opened the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre — a attraction installation for men named successful honour of their son, who died of a cause overdose successful 2011.

Scott Oake said his precocious woman was excited by the thought of a betterment centre for women, and her tone volition endure there, arsenic their son's has astatine the men's betterment centre.

"Our pledge was ever that erstwhile the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre was up and moving — with sustainable backing and palmy results — that we would crook our attraction to women," Oake said astatine a Tuesday quality conference.

"That is the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre, with [an] accent connected 'family,' because women volition beryllium capable to person their children with them arsenic they get steadfast again."

The building's plan has been completed, helium said. The University of Manitoba, which presently owns the spot that volition beryllium the aboriginal tract of the centre, is expected to formally transportation it to the provincial authorities successful the coming weeks.

"The authorities volition past lease that spot to usage for $1 a twelvemonth for 99 years," helium said.

Last September, Oake said different $13 cardinal was needed to scope the foundation's $25-million extremity to statesman constructing the caller centre.

Manitoba recorded 534 suspected substance-related deaths successful 2024 betwixt January and November, according to caller preliminary information from the province's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The preliminary data presently shows 568 suspected substance-related deaths successful the state successful 2023, which is up from 462 suspected deaths the twelvemonth before.

Scott Oake said the data shows however "critically important" it is to get the caller centre built.

"For each time the Anne Oake [Family] Recovery Centre is not up and running, women are dying and families are being torn apart, truthful it's critically important we commencement arsenic soon arsenic humanly possible," helium said.

'Allow mothers to heal'

Crystal Dumas, a subordinate of Opaskwayak Cree Nation and pb outreach co-ordinator astatine Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, said she was grateful to spot the Bruce and Anne Oake Memorial Foundation's enactment to enactment men, women and children connected the way to recovery.

Her ain addiction betterment inspired her to assistance others, which led her to a practicum astatine Bruce Oake Recovery Centre and yet to her existent position, she said.

"Throughout my ain travel of recovery, I often felt similar I was navigating a breached system," Dumas said astatine the quality conference.

"It was challenging, but I rapidly learned that I had to accommodate and enactment wrong it to guarantee that I could beryllium the champion parent I could beryllium for my children."

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said determination are fewer Manitobans whose lives person not been impacted by substance maltreatment oregon addictions, either personally oregon done their friends and family.

Those seeking addictions betterment programs besides often look uncertainty, she said.

"That is wherefore it's truthful important that erstwhile radical are acceptable to question attraction [and] alteration their lives, that those supports are there, particularly [for] our women," said Smith.

Women with children face further barriers to addictions treatment, according to Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.

"Far excessively galore are near without options simply due to the fact that they person children they request to attraction for and they don't privation to leave," she said.

Fontaine precocious marked 30 years since her parent fatally overdosed from heroin, but the curate said she often wonders however her mother's beingness mightiness person been different with better entree to addiction treatment.

"My ma didn't person immoderate opportunities. It was inevitable that she would walk from the toxic cause supply," she said.

The caller women's betterment centre volition assistance women reclaim the lives they imagination of, Fontaine said.

"We judge and cognize that each pistillate deserves the accidental to heal, not conscionable for herself, but for her children and for her community," she said.

"Anne Oake volition beryllium truthful important to the community. It volition let mothers to heal portion continuing to nurture that ineffable relationship."