Scott Oake reveals plan for women’s-only addictions recovery centre By: Chris Kitching Posted: 6:12 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 13, 2023 Last Modified: 4:17 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 14, 2023 Updates

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When Scott and Anne Oake set out to establish a men’s-only addictions treatment centre in memory of their late son, Bruce, it came with the goal of one day opening a facility just for women.

That day is drawing closer, after plans for a new women’s-only facility — named in honour of Anne, who died in September 2021 — were revealed at a charity event Tuesday night.

“The need (for treatment) is only getting greater,” Oake told the Free Press Wednesday. “Addictions are not going away.”

The Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre will offer long-term residential treatment, with child-care spaces to help support mothers enrolled in the program.

Oake, a sportscaster, said a lot of mothers who require treatment are reluctant to enter an in-residence program because they are worried they will lose custody of their kids.

The facility will require financial support from the Manitoba government, he said, but a capital campaign target will have to wait until after Oct. 3 provincial election.

A $1-million donation from philanthropists John and Bonnie Buhler was announced at the Hockey Night In Canada Gala in Winnipeg. The couple has been a big financial backer of the men’s-only Bruce Oake Recovery Centre.

“It’s always been the dream that further along there would be something for women and families,” said Bonnie Buhler. “I know that (the women’s centre) will be successful.”

Oake said a second $1-million donation was pledged Wednesday. He declined to identify the donor because details have not yet been finalized.

The women’s site will be similar in size to the 50-bed Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, which runs a 16-week residential program and provides a continuum of care. The centre is named after the Oakes’ 25-year-old son, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2011.

A location and targeted opening year for the women’s centre has not yet been determined. There have been discussions about “choice pieces of property,” said Oake.

At this point, the discussions have nothing to do with the City of Winnipeg or any civic agency, he said.

The women’s treatment program is being drafted.

Oake said the facility will likely employ more people than the men’s site, which has about 30 employees, owing to specific needs related to child care or counselling.

The site will not be located near the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, situated at the former Vimy Arena site on Hamilton Avenue in St. James, in order to keep male and female residents apart.

“It’s not a good idea to mix men and women when they’re at their most vulnerable in their recovery,” said Oake. “Those relationships are not healthy.”

The men’s-only centre was spearheaded by the Bruce Oake Memorial Foundation, a non-profit run by a board of directors. The Bruce Oake facility’s capital campaign had a fundraising goal of $16 million.

Anne Oake was a driving force behind that site, which opened ahead of schedule in May 2021, after years of planning, fundraising and wrangling.

“It was her dream that this place be built,” her husband said. “The plan was always to turn the attention to a women’s centre when this place was secure.”

Planning for the women’s facility proceeded once the men’s centre secured sustainable funding from the Manitoba government and demonstrated credible success, said Oake.

He said 57 per cent of graduates from the first year have been sober for more than 12 months.

Like the men’s site, the Anne Oake Family Centre will provide long-term recovery at no cost to people who cannot afford it, with no one being turned away, he said.

Before construction began in 2020, the Bruce Oake Centre faced hurdles, controversy and pushback from some Sturgeon Creek residents.

“It was her (Anne Oake) dream that this place be built.”–Scott Oake

Oake is hoping the women’s facility avoids similar issues, based on the preferred locations that have been discussed and a public education campaign last time around.

“We managed to convince most naysayers they had nothing to fear from the men of Bruce Oake and that they would be good neighbours, which is how it’s turned out,” said Oake.

Things will also be different for the Anne Oake Family Centre, he said, because it has a proven entity behind it.

In 2018, the city agreed to sell the decommissioned Vimy Arena to the province for $1. Valued at $1.43 million, the site was leased to the Bruce Oake Foundation for $1 per year, following a rezoning process.

In 2021, a Manitoba auditor general’s report found the city gave preferential treatment and failed to follow its real-estate policies for how surplus properties should be sold. The city defended the deal, insisting all existing policies were followed by the public service.

According to preliminary statistics from Manitoba’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, there were at least 418 drug-related overdose deaths in the province in 2022. There were 424 in 2021.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching