The Sophia Recovery Centre has received over $900,000 in new funding from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP).
This funding aims to expand and strengthen the peer substance use health workforce through co-designed mentorship and wellness training for women.
The announcement came from Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long.
“We are committed to supporting organizations who are on the ground in communities, helping to keep people who use substances safe,” Long said.
The project will provide training to women with lived and living experiences of substance use in Saint John, St. Stephen, and Quispamsis.
Executive Director Julie Atkinson of the Sophia Recovery Centre explained the funding will help fill financial gaps.
“The fact that it’s four years of funding gives us that opportunity to establish sustainability in the offerings we have,” Atkinson said.
The new funding will allow for additional staff at the centre, which aims to hire women with lived experience.
These staff members will work as peer support workers, providing robust training and wellness programming.
It also includes volunteer training programs to extend the reach of their services.
“We’re feeling excited and grateful for the support that the [SUAP] at Health Canada has placed in us and that we can deliver on,” Atkinson said.
Mary Stilwell, a peer mentor at Sophia Recovery Centre, emphasized the importance of peer mentoring.
“Peer recovery supports women as they navigate from ‘I don’t think I can’ to ‘I made up my resume and I think I want to apply for a job,'” Stilwell said.
The project will offer community members substance use health information, mentorship to women seeking recovery, and deliver prevention, harm reduction, and recovery initiatives.
It will also provide access to individual therapy and ongoing wellness education programs.
This funding represents a significant step forward in supporting the women served by Sophia Recovery Centre and addressing the substance use and addiction crisis in the region.
