Province promises $1.5M for 'critically important' Anne Oake women's recovery centre

A new addictions recovery centre in Winnipeg that promises to help women heal, without separating them from their children, is getting new funding from the province as work continues to get shovels into the ground.

The Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre, a 75,000-square-foot facility planned to be built next to the Victoria Hospital in south Winnipeg, is getting $1.5 million from the Manitoba government, the province said in a news release on Tuesday.

The Families department is earmarking $1 million for the new recovery centre's capital costs, while the Department of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness is providing $500,000 for programming needs, the release said.

Scott Oake, who founded the Bruce and Anne Oake Memorial Foundation, said that once built, the recovery centre will have 50 to 70 beds for women seeking addictions treatment and for their children.

The centre is named after his wife, Anne Oake, an addictions treatment advocate who died from an autoimmune disease in 2021, shortly after the couple opened the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre — a treatment facility for men named in honour of their son, who died of a drug overdose in 2011.

Scott Oake said his late wife was excited by the idea of a recovery centre for women, and her spirit will endure there, as their son's has at the men's recovery centre.

"Our pledge was always that when the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre was up and running — with sustainable funding and successful results — that we would turn our attention to women," Oake said at a Tuesday news conference.

"That is the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre, with [an] emphasis on 'family,' because women will be able to have their children with them as they get healthy again."

The building's design has been completed, he said. The University of Manitoba, which currently owns the property that will be the future site of the centre, is expected to formally transfer it to the provincial government in the coming weeks.

"The government will then lease that property to use for $1 a year for 99 years," he said.

Last September, Oake said another $13 million was needed to reach the foundation's $25-million goal to begin constructing the new centre.

Manitoba recorded 534 suspected substance-related deaths in 2024 between January and November, according to recent preliminary data from the province's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The preliminary data currently shows 568 suspected substance-related deaths in the province in 2023, which is up from 462 suspected deaths the year before.

Scott Oake said the data shows how "critically important" it is to get the new centre built.

"For every day the Anne Oake [Family] Recovery Centre is not up and running, women are dying and families are being torn apart, so it's critically important we start as soon as humanly possible," he said.

'Allow mothers to heal'

Crystal Dumas, a member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation and lead outreach co-ordinator at Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, said she was grateful to see the Bruce and Anne Oake Memorial Foundation's work to support men, women and children on the path to recovery.

Her own addiction recovery inspired her to help others, which led her to a practicum at Bruce Oake Recovery Centre and eventually to her current position, she said.

"Throughout my own journey of recovery, I often felt like I was navigating a broken system," Dumas said at the news conference.

"It was challenging, but I quickly learned that I had to adapt and work within it to ensure that I could be the best mother I could be for my children."

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said there are few Manitobans whose lives have not been impacted by substance abuse or addictions, either personally or through their friends and family.

Those seeking addictions recovery programs also often face uncertainty, she said.

"That is why it's so important that when people are ready to seek treatment [and] change their lives, that those supports are there, especially [for] our women," said Smith.

Women with children face additional barriers to addictions treatment, according to Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.

"Far too many are left without options simply because they have children they need to care for and they don't want to leave," she said.

Fontaine recently marked 30 years since her mother fatally overdosed from heroin, but the minister said she often wonders how her mother's life might have been different with better access to addiction treatment.

"My mom didn't have any opportunities. It was inevitable that she would pass from the toxic drug supply," she said.

The new women's recovery centre will help women reclaim the lives they dream of, Fontaine said.

"We believe and know that every woman deserves the opportunity to heal, not just for herself, but for her children and for her community," she said.

"Anne Oake will be so important to the community. It will allow mothers to heal while continuing to nurture that sacred relationship."