REHAB CENTRE: SALVATION ARMY NEEDS HELP

Unconscionable government squabbling is robbing the Salvation Army of
the funds it needs to continue administering hope and help to the
city's most vulnerable citizens.

The cost of supporting the Salvation Army's residential substance
abuse treatment program - $300,000 per year - is a pittance compared
to the social costs taxpayers will be forced to reckon with if the
program is cancelled. Burglaries, muggings, robberies and other crimes
will rise if the downtown shelter is forced to turn away impoverished
clients with their addictions unchecked.

There is no question this community needs a residential treatment
program other than Brentwood recovery home, which fulfills a different
need than the Salvation Army and doesn't have the resources to pick up
the pieces should the Army's program crumble. The only question is who
should pay for the program and that issue must be resolved and
resolved quickly because addicts are already being turned away and
falling through the cracks.

The jurisdictional wrangling imperiling this vital community resource
centres on whether the Salvation Army's 90-day residential drug and
alcohol rehabilitation program, which can cater to 24 patients for an
extended period, deals with health care issues or homelessness.

Ontario's Ministry of Health is balking at funding the program,
arguing the responsibility falls to the Ministry of Community and
Social Services, headed up by Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello.
Pupatello's ministry provides the city 80 per cent funding for shelter
programs but the city cut funding for the addictions program last year
because it insists, correctly, the rehabilitation program "is clearly
in the purview of the Ministry of Health."

The Salvation Army cobbled together enough funds to continue the
program this year but is tapped out and scheduled to close in January
unless funding is found. This would be tragic for this community but
it would be especially tragic for its most vulnerable members - those
who can contribute and make a difference if they are just given a real
opportunity for recovery.

The front-line addictions treatment program caters to a vulnerable
clientele who are waging a life-and-death battle with alcohol or drugs
like crack cocaine. They might be homeless but that is a symptom
rather than a cause of their troubles. Providing them a bed does
nothing to help put their addictions to sleep forever. Four successful
alumni of the program spoke out to defend it this week. They said the
program didn't just turn their lives around. It saved them.

Addictions are clearly a health care issue and the Ministry of Health
has a responsibility to fund the program on an annual basis. In
passing the buck to Pupatello's ministry, the health ministry is not
only abrogating its responsibility but forgetting that money for all
government departments comes from the same source - taxpayers.

A report going to city council Dec. 12 urges the city to lobby the
health ministry for the funding and city councillors should back those
lobbying efforts unanimously. But they should also consider what they
can do to address a local problem that will spawn even more problems
if it is left unchecked.

The city pays the Salvation Army about $1 million a year to provide
emergency hostel and overnight beds but only lets the clients stay for
14 days. Major Clyde Guy is calling on the city to extend that period
so the most unfortunate in this community have sufficient time to get
the help they need.

The city should heed his concerns and it should aggressively lobby the
province because the whole community reaps rewards when a helping hand
is extended to the down and out.