B.C. to open new beds for Indigenous women with addiction, mental health needs

Ten new beds will be available for Indigenous women in Surrey, B.C., who are struggling with substance-use and mental health challenges. 

The B.C. Health minister, Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA) and the Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association (FRAFCA), made the announcement Wednesday. 

The new beds are part of complex-care housing that will support women with specific needs and connect them to services like mental health care, substance use treatment and counselling. 

"We need to stop closing doors and finding a way to open them," said Kyla Painter, executive director of FRAFCA. 

FRAFCA will operate the program and assess the clients who will live in the 10-bedroom home. 

Painter said the home will have 24-hour staffing so the women in the program would have access to health care and harm reduction for substances anytime they need. 

"The 24/7 staffing, medical support and primary care is a really exciting and new way of addressing the homeless crisis and supporting people where they're at," said Painter. 

According to the 2023 homeless count for Metro Vancouver, 33 per cent of people who experienced homelessness identified as Indigenous. 

Of the Indigenous people experiencing homelessness, 34 per cent were women, where 25 per cent of non-Indigenous people experiencing homelessness were women. 

Culturally relevant care 

Painter said women are able to stay in the program as long as they want, and will have access to culturally relevant services. 

"We're offering an opportunity to get out and engage in ceremony and to understand their identities and … to connect to their cultural roots," said Painter. 

Painter said they will also support family reunification, whether that is children or estranged family members. 

Indigenous-led and culturally relative support is part of the vision for Margaret Pfoh, chief executive officer of AHMA. 

"Indigenous people have many, many real and perceived barriers to adequate health care, just at a base standard," said Pfoh. 

"Never mind adding in the fact that they might be dealing with addiction, or they might be dealing with brain traumas."

According to Statistics Canada data, more off-reserve First Nations women than men reported unmet health care needs in the 12 months prior to the survey. 

Pfoh said building a program like this has been a dream for a long time for her organization. 

"[It] gives a safe place for people to rest, allows them to actually take a few moments to take care of themselves before they can address whether it's addictions, whether it's alcohol, whether it's brain injury, whether it's other compounding issues that are affecting their ability to maintain a stable tenancy elsewhere," said Pfoh. 

B.C.'s Ministry of Health will provide $1.8 million annually to the AHMA and FRAFCA for operational costs of the complex-care housing program, said Health Minister Josie Osborne. 

"Far too many Indigenous peoples, particularly women, who are facing some very significant barriers to stable housing and care, and this has led to a cycle of shelters and emergency rooms," said Osborne.

The Ministry of Health budgeted $430 million to expand complex-care housing across the province. Osborne said another 20 complex-care beds will be opening in Surrey. 

"What's unique about this particular place is that it's specifically for Indigenous women, and that it is Indigenous-led," said Osborne. 

The beds are expected to be available in mid-April.