Some very special cottages at Baldy Hughes Addiction Treatment Centre and Therapeutic Community are now in use. Each one is home to recovery. Five of them were constructed to provide spaces for group therapy sessions which, according to executive director Marshall Smith, "have proven critical to the centre’s above average addiction recovery success rates."

The five buildings could not have been built without generous support from the local construction industry. Contributions from BID Construction, Winton Global and Houle Electric were recognized as instrumental.

“These buildings provide our clients and therapists with a safe and private environment to conduct the most intense group therapy sessions, in which we meticulously dissect and treat years of early childhood trauma, abuse and neglect,” said Selen Alpay, member of Baldy Hughes board of directors. “We are incredibly thankful to all of the companies who stepped forward with their generous contributions.”

In recognition of donated time, materials and design work, three of the five buildings will be named after contributors BID Group, Winton Global and Houle Electric respectively. In keeping with the Therapeutic Community model, the actual erection of the buildings was completed by the centre’s own residents.

In a recent visit, Shirley Bond, MLA was impressed with the buildings and extended her thanks to the donating companies. “Baldy Hughes is making a difference! We are very fortunate to have the support of local companies and individuals in addressing the vicious cycles of crime, poverty and other issues in our community that stem from addition problems.”

Marlene Fehr-Power, general manager of Winton Global Homes said, “We are very proud to participate in this very special project. It is close to our hearts as our company is in the business of building quality shelters and safe environments.”

Electrical work and materials were all supplied through Houle Electric. “I didn’t have to work the phones for very long before the donations came flooding in,” said company manager Colin Hilman. “Houle’s suppliers were eager to provide us with everything we needed to install - from underground cable and wall fixtures to breaker boxes and baseboard heaters. It’s evident that support for Baldy Hughes runs deep in this town.”

Other local contributors to the project include Nedco, Guillevin, Bartell & Gibson, Westo, Eecol, EB Horsman and Anixter. Canadian Tire and Rona, who have participated in past projects, stepped up again for the newly-completed buildings.

The demand for spots at Baldy Hughes continues to outpace capacity, said Smith. "The addition of the group therapy buildings is an important part of the centre’s growth plans. These buildings stand to help literally thousands of people around northern B.C. This is truly a legacy project.”