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Child care available for moms at Vancouver Island addictions treatment facility

Edgewood Treatment Centre partners with Kids and Company
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Edgewood Treatment Centre in Nanaimo held a ribbon cutting to signal the start of its child care partnership with Kids and Company. (Submitted photo)

A pilot program partnership will provide child care so women dealing with mental health and addiction issues at a Nanaimo facility can keep more of their focus on their treatment.

According to a press release, a new program will offer women at Edgewood Treatment Centre on-site care for their children through Kids and Company, with the program intended to create a safe and supportive environment allowing for healthy mother-child relationships during recovery.

The program will have three available spaces at any given time, stated the press release. Mothers and children will reside together, with supportive supervision in order to allow for the parent to bond with children and to educate on new parenting strategies and techniques. The care will also allow women time to concentrate on their healing while their children are tended for throughout the day.

Victoria Sopik, Kids and Company CEO and founder, said she was “honoured” to partner on the program as it will help women heal while ensuring their children are safe.

“As a mother of eight children, I know that it takes a village,” Sopik said in the press release. “I am thrilled to be able to be that village to the women at Edgewood who are caring for themselves, so that they can be better moms.”

Christina Basedow, Edgewood executive director, is also pleased with what the partnership offers.

“Neither motherhood nor addiction treatment are easy and these women are doing both. [The partnership] allows us to make these two challenges more manageable,” Basedow said in the press release. “We believe that incorporating child care, parenting strategies, and new family systems skills into these women’s healing journey will allow them and their families to thrive once they complete their treatment at Edgewood.”

The program began will run for a minimum of 10 years, the press release stated.

READ ALSO: Province funds 20 treatment and recovery spaces in Nanaimo


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