If you don’t know how to change, how do you adapt your lifestyle to become the person you want to be? That’s the crux of the question posed to the men entering the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community, operated by Our Place Society, in View Royal. The answer? By learning how to live and work within a community. The healing starts with a group of men looking out for each other.
“New Roads represents a tangible success in treating addiction and supporting folks to sustainable sobriety,” said Julian Daly, chief executive officer of Our Place Society. “We’ve been successful for two key reasons. The first is that it’s a community: men living together, learning together, and working together, supporting each other because they know what the other men have gone through. The second is the length of time they can stay, from nine months to two years. Most treatment programs in our province are 60 days or 90 days maximum, and as one of the men said to me, ‘I’ve been addicted to drugs and alcohol since I was twelve. How can I undo decades of addiction in just 60 days? I’ve been here for nine months, and I’m only now learning how to deal with my demons and finding the tools to sustain my sobriety.’”
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- Photo by: Derek Ford
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- Photo by: Derek Ford
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- Photo by: Derek Ford
Turning Pavement into Possibility
New Roads today looks nothing like the building it once was. Where once lay a barren basketball court — a single backboard exemplifying the purposeful isolation — now stands an open-walled cedar lodge, with seating welcoming everyone whether they want privacy or companionship. The blacktop parking lot was replaced by a tranquil garden, with places to connect and reflect surrounded by nature. New structures, funded by donors, house new life in the pond, greenhouse,
and chicken coop.
“We turned that paved courtyard into a healing garden.” — Cheryl Diebel, director
Foundations Built on Phases
The initial phase of the New Roads program is six to eight weeks, with medical care and no contact outside the peer community. This helps the men ground themselves and evaluate their outside connections. The second phase is the heavy lifting: group work and individual sessions with a therapist to get to the root of their addictions and triggers and plan for their recovery. It’s at least four months of work but might go six or longer if that’s what is needed. The third phase reconnects the men to the outside community, which often includes a fellow in the fourth phase taking a mentorship role for the newly third-phase guys. The program’s final stage encourages the men to focus on employment and educational programs to prepare them for life outside New Roads.
“Recognizing milestones, whether it’s the length of sobriety or advancement through the stages they’re going through, is vital to the program as well as to the men.” — Cheryl Diebel, director
Celebrating Together
Each month the men of New Roads gather to celebrate individual advancements, completing a phase or achieving a milestone. They receive a certificate of completion, and their mentor stands up to share positive stories about them and the work they’ve been doing. It’s an evening of celebration, with the men cheering each other on and reinforcing the bonds made during their time together.
Good Neighbours
Funded through the generosity of three local philanthropic families, JAYMAC Place is home for up to six New Roads alumni. The men who go there are within an educational program or working. “Before we moved into the house in Saanich,” said Cheryl, “we went door-to-door to the neighbours, talking about the program and the men who would be living at JAYMAC Place. Once the men moved in, we delivered flyers and held a barbecue. The neighbours even brought housewarming gifts. It was a nice experience and let us know we were welcome in the community.” The men living at JAYMAC Place continue to have positive connections with their neighbours.
A Community of Support
Funding for the healing garden at New Roads and the purchase of the transition home was made possible through the JAYMAC Fund, a donor-advised fund held at the Victoria Foundation from an anonymous benefactor. These gifts were matched by private donations secured by Our Place Society. For many of the men at New Roads, a lack of community drew them into addiction, and it will take a brotherhood to help them find the necessary tools to sustain their sobriety. Through the generosity and support of Victoria Foundation donors, anonymous or not, the foundation is looking forward to these men feeling comfortable with their place in the community. The Victoria Foundation-facilitated contributions are a proud testimony to how the local community supports the brotherhood living and learning at New Roads and Jaymac Place.
What’s in a name?
When it comes to giving via the Victoria Foundation, there are a variety of vehicles to help you support the cause — or causes —you’re passionate about.
You can donate to an existing program, create a new endowment fund, or support the Community Action Funds and let the Victoria Foundation allocate your gift to the areas of greatest need within the nine cause-areas we currently address.
Once you’ve made the donation, how do you want to be recognized? For some people and businesses, they’re happy to include their name as a visible supporter of their cause, building a legacy to carry on after they’re gone. But there are others who, for their own reasons, prefer to stay out of the limelight for their donation. They might name their fund with something important to them, like their initials or a favourite item — we even have funds named for pets or special places that have meaning to the donors. Or they might opt to make their donation anonymously, choosing to let their gift be the focus to ensure the cause receives the recognition it deserves.
Home Grown
The JAYMAC Fund, established in 2018 by a long-standing supporter of the Victoria Foundation, is a donor-advised fund from an anonymous donor. In this relatively short timeline, the fund has been used to support important causes, such as the Greater Victoria Regional Arts Awards Program, Broadmead Care (through an innovative and effective donation-matching program), and to plant the seeds of recovery at the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community. The initial donation to New Roads was to fund the development of a healing garden for the residents, and as that idea took root, it became the foundation for the next phase of therapy for men learning how to enjoy a life of sobriety: a transition home in Saanich.
Based on the generous seed support of the JAYMAC Fund, Our Place Society was able to secure full funding for JAYMAC Place Recovery Home, a safe space for alumni of the New Roads program. The learnings and personal growth the men uncovered during their time at New Roads can multiply in the raised beds and greenhouse available at JAYMAC Place and through interactions with their neighbours. While the men may not know precisely who their benefactor is, the donor knows they made a positive difference in the community, and that’s a legacy to be proud of.
Visit VictoriaFoundation.bc.ca to learn more about the ways in which you can donate to the causes you’re passionate about.