A rehab facility specifically for first responders will be opening in Ashcroft tomorrow.

The “Honour Ranch” will have 20 cottages once it is fully in operation, and it will provide a secluded space for uniformed personnel.

BC’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy will be on hand for the opening of the 120-acre site.

“There will be peer counselling, group supports, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health services,” she said. “It is very much to support military personnel and first responders who are dealing with Post Traumatic Stress or other occupational stress injuries. That’s an issue certainly that our government is totally committed to.”

Darcy says the provincial government has invested $1-million dollars in Honour Ranch, and she calls the facility ‘a dream come true’ for first responders who need it.

“They see things that are unimaginable and horrifying for most of us. This is part of them going to work every single day,” Darcy added. “And historically, there’s just been sort of an attitude that they should just suck it up. And now it’s coming out. You know the walls of silence are coming down, these issues are coming out of the shadows.”

Darcy points out the facility is being opened by the Honour House, which runs in her riding in New Westminster.