BURSTA $6.4 million campaign has kicked off and is set to add 36 treatment beds at Bill’s Place Addiction Recovery in Vernon.
Turning Points Collaborative Society announced Tuesday, Aug. 25, plans for a new 13,500-square-foot, three storey facility that will add 36 treatment beds and increase Bill’s Place capacity by 133 per cent.
The Foord Family Foundation is helping pave the way for the expansion by providing Turning Points Collaborative Society (TPCS) with a $2.5 million gift to get started.
“The Foord Family has made an extraordinary commitment to Bill’s Place and to our communities,” said Randene Wejr, CEO of TPCS, at the announcement. “Their $2.5 million gift gives us the momentum to move this much-needed expansion forward and help many more people access recovery when they’re ready. We are incredibly grateful for their generosity, their leadership and their belief in the work we do.”
Wejr believes that the gift is much more than just a financial contribution.
“This is one of those moments. It is a statement of belief, belief in the project, belief in people doing it and belief in the people that are changing their story and lives by walking through the doors of Bill’s Place,” she said. “We still have almost $4 million to raise to bring this project fully to life, but the Foord Family Foundation has given us tremendous momentum towards that.”
Brad Houghton is the executive director of addiction services, with Turning Points. He started his own addiction recovery journey over 25 years ago and has worked with Bill’s Place since the beginning.
“I was given the gift of recovery and it saved my life,” said Houghton. “I remember 14 years ago sitting upstairs (in Bill’s Place) and we had made up 12 beds, we hadn’t even opened yet. There was two staff and two volunteers and I looked at them said ‘Do you think anyone’s gonna come?’ Then just one person after another came and here we are today.”
Houghton feels the community will help Turning Points chip away at the remaining $4 million dollars.
“There’s been a lot of support for what we are doing so far,” he told The Morning Star. “I’m fully hoping and expecting that to continue, with people stepping forward and willing to be involved in what we’re doing. That’s one of the cool things about Vernon and our expansion is that it’s such a community minded project. I think we’re gonna be surprised with how supportive people are gonna be.”
Houghton says Turning Points has a plan in place to make sure the project goes through even if not enough funds are raised.
The goal is to break ground on the project as early as spring 2027 with construction taking 13 to 15 months.
Bill’s Place receives approximately 350 referrals each year and currently has a wait list of about six months. The new facility is expected to reduce that wait to around one month.
“It’s huge,” said Houghton. “Our goal is to reduce the amount of time people spend waiting to get into one of our treatment beds.”
Opened in 2013, Bill’s Place is a 27-bed residential addiction recovery campus offering primary care, second-stage recovery and family programs. Operated by TPCS, the affordable, not-for-profit program combines evidence-based treatment with therapeutic work, personal accountability, community engagement and connection.
The new building will be constructed on the existing Bill’s Place property on 43rd Avenue and will include gathering and learning spaces, a commercial kitchen and accommodations for visiting family members.
“The thing I’m most excited about is having the space to actually do what we want to do,” said Houghton. “Right now our program is happening in a rancher that’s really only meant for a family of five.”
“To go from that (the rancher) to actually having a space like a classroom or a dining room, where we can have large groups of people. I think it’s going to be a game changer.”
Houghton said one thing that will stay the same is the therapeutic environment.
“We get people coming in and saying, ‘this doesn’t feel like a treatment program it feels like home,’ that speaks volumes to the atmosphere we created,” he said. “It’s really about creating a place for people to connect and once that connections happens, lives get changed.”
The project is ready to move forward, with land ownership, zoning and permits, building designs and ongoing program funding already in place. The total capital cost is $6.4 million. With the Foord Family Foundation’s leadership gift secured, $3.9 million remains to be raised.
Wejr finished her speech thanking the Foord Family and highlighting the lasting impact this project will have.
“Your generosity demonstrates what is possible when people believe in a vision of healthy families healthy communities,” she said. “Thank you for believing in this vision, your generosity will have an impact for decades in our community.”