Treatment beds to open in Lantzville for Indigenous youth – Victoria Times Colonist
Twenty substance-use treatment beds will be available to Indigenous youth age 12 to 18 in renovated space at the Orca Lelum Youth Wellness Centre
Indigenous youth in central Vancouver Island will be able to access a full-range of detox and treatment services at a youth facility in Lantzville this fall, Premier David Eby announced on Tuesday.
Eby made the announcement in the community just north of Nanaimo, noting that the toxic drug crisis — declared a public heath emergency in 2016 — continues to disproportionately affect Indigenous people.
“Rooting treatment in addictions and mental heath issues in Indigenous knowledge has the power to transform a young person’s life,” said Eby.
Twenty substance-use treatment beds will be available to Indigenous youth age 12 to 18 in renovated space at the Orca Lelum Youth Wellness Centre, managed by the Orca Lelum Wellness Society, an Indigenous child and family service agency.
