We have supplied an $11,132.00 Emergency Community Support Fund grant to Realistic Success Recovery Society to continue their COVID Community Recovery Works Outreach to ensure that unhoused, incarcerated and other vulnerable people have ongoing access to supportive recovery services. The increased need for recovery services is reflective of COVID-19 wherein people with addiction are faced with new challenges, such as a poisoned drug supply or reduced connections with ‘normal’ support systems. While Realistic Success Recovery Society has responded with urgency to the number of overdoses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for high quality ongoing recovery services remains imperative.
Founded in 2007, Realistic Success Recovery Society provides an ethical and caring long-term recovery program for residents who wish to recover and heal from their addictions. Their vision is to be recognized as a community leader in the delivery of their residential addiction recovery program. For the past years, they have supported men seeking to mend from addiction, abuse and homelessness in a safe, supportive and structured environment thus facilitating a holistic recovery. With onsite non-medical detox, an addiction program, life skills training, employment training, guided study groups, outreach, restorative health and recreation, Realistic Success Recovery Society offers residents a high-quality opportunity toward recovery with other like-minded individuals in a long-term, drug and alcohol-free residence.
“Breaking the cycle of addiction and poverty takes time, resources and a belief that each person in this province in recovery is of value. Our direct experience supports many studies that show individuals living in supportive recovery residence are more likely to secure full-time, higher-paying employment and remain abstinent than those who participate in short term treatment programs,” shared Realistic Success Recovery Society’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, Susan Sanderson. She added that “in the past two years, we have 20 alumni all who are working full time, improving their lives and enhancing their communities.”
The residents that Realistic Success Recovery Society supports often come from families of alcoholics or drug addicts. Their recovery can therefore have lasting impacts on their families and our community. Realistic Success Recovery Society’s outreach staff spends time driving between shelters, homeless camps, pre-trials and to the North Fraser Corrections Facility as part of the COVID Community Recovery Works Outreach program, established to support the trajectory of their residents’ lives.
This grant is made possible through the Government of Canada's $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund, which saw over $900,000 allocated to SurreyCares in its first round and now, over $575,000 in the second round.
“COVID-19 demonstrates the determination of local non-profits to support vulnerable populations across Surrey,” explained Christine Buttkus, Executive Director of SurreyCares. “Thanks to this funding, we are able to provide organizations like Realistic Success Recovery Society and their residents with much needed assistance. We are grateful to back pillars of recovery in our community.”
The Emergency Community Support Fund is being delivered through a national partnership with Community Foundations of Canada, United Way Centraide Canada and the Canadian Red Cross.
“We are fortunate to extend our funding to organizations in dire need through this additional government aid,” said John Lawson, Board Chair of SurreyCares, “and to back the recovery and healing journey of so many community members. The need for funding is indeed substantial and we are continuing our advocacy work to receive additional emergency funds.”
To find out more about Realistic Success Recovery Society, visit their webpage at http://therecoverysociety.com/.