The Mustard Seed in Kamloops has reopened a men’s recovery program after six months of being closed.

The Sober Living Centre has 17 beds, and men who are recovering will live there for up to a year.

Managing director Mario Borba explains what’s different now about the program compared to when it closed on July 31, when staff said a large issue was that clients were not allowed to work.

“The biggest difference is now we are providing a better support. As before, we had a program that was running and we were trying to get people to detox facilities. Now we will be better able to support the people who are going to be living with us.”

Borba says men will have to volunteer for at least nine hours a week and will be able to be employed later on. Men will also be able to get their high school diploma if they don’t have it.

And he points it will be abstinence-based.

“If there’s a relapse, which happens in an addiction centre, rather than kick them out we’ll work with them over the week and try to get them into a treatment centre as they might need more support than what we will offer,” Borba says. “The second time it happens, they will be discharged, but only after The Mustard Seed works with them for a week to find them a more appropriate place. If in that week, they relapse again, then they will be discharged.”

Jeff Arlitt will work as a wellness coordinator at the program and will work with an employment coach as well.

“The goal is to make sure they have everything they need to be successful when they leave,” Arlitt says.

Admission into the program is on a first-come, first-serve basis, and men can refer themselves or be referred by another social agency. Borba says there are already four people staying in the facility as of Monday morning.

“If they graduate within a year, and graduation meaning they are able to be reintegrated and fully independent, then we can have other people occupy that room. So we’re going to have some rotation,” Borba says.

“And hopefully with being a year-long program, one year later we’ll have 17 graduates, and can help another 17 people.”