Editor's note: BarrieToday reporter Nikki Cole visited the Cornerstone to Recovery facility in York Region to get a first-hand look at what services they provide and what this could mean in Barrie. Cornerstone is opening a women's treatment centre on Tiffin Street this summer. The following is Part 1 of a two-part series. Part 2 will follow tomorrow.
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If it’s not broken, why fix it?
That’s the stance Peter Brewitt, director of programs and development for Cornerstone to Recovery, is taking in his approach when he opens a new women’s residential addiction facility in Barrie this summer.
Brewitt, who has worked in the field of addiction for nearly three decades, plans to replicate a program that’s been successfully running in York Region since 2004, providing a safe and place for men who are 18 years old and up to address their addiction and walk the path from addiction to sustainable, community-based recovery.
“I am bringing that program to Barrie. It’s a carbon copy,” he said, noting while he has had to tweak a few things in order for the program to better suit female participants — including security and a focus on human trafficking — the program itself is the same.
Different from the rest
Cornerstone, he said, is not your traditional treatment centre that has a beginning, a middle and an end. In fact, they don’t even call themselves a treatment centre, Brewitt admitted.
“We’ve created a treatment community, whereby we have a beginning, a middle and it doesn’t end. It’s an ongoing process. Once you go through the program, it’s kind of like the mob — once you’re in, you’re in for life. We have found that to be a very successful formula for combating recidivism.”
The fact Cornerstone offers a three-month program also helps to set it apart from other treatment centres.
“It gives us enough time to open you up and close you up. The other thing is I have counsellors who have lived experience, so when you talk to me what it’s like to sleep under the Bloor Viaduct or camp out at Milligan's Pond, I know what you’re talking about — been there done that,” said Brewitt, who, along with all of the counsellors at Cornerstone, know first-hand what clients are going through.
“There was a time when I was unemployable and had no fixed address," he said. "I think there’s a lot of value in working with people who are graduates from the School of Hard Knocks and also graduates from an accredited facility that is certified in the field of addiction.”
The combination of lived experience and education is extremely important to Brewitt, who has handpicked each and every member of his team. One of the things he insists on is something he calls the Three C’s — Compassion, Character and Charisma.
“If you’ve got those three things then you’re off to a pretty good start. Then we will throw in the capital 'E’, which is education. When we are working with a client, the first thing you have to do is create an environment and be able to deliver a package that makes it warm and receptive because then they become more receptive to what you have to offer,” he said.
Staff also need to be able to talk to people and not talk at them, Brewitt said.
“I used to wear a shirt and tie and work behind a desk. Now guests come in here, crack a Diet Coke, put their feet up on the desk and we talk about what’s going on in their lives. I recently held a session and not once did I mention alcohol or drugs.”
So what did he talk about?
“I talked about what life was really like, because they don’t know. They know life as a miserable existence chained to their drug of choice.”
Ladies first
Brewitt is often asked why Cornerstone has opted to build a women’s facility first. His answer is simple: Why not?
“There aren’t enough facilities in the province or in the country to treat the addict, the alcoholic and there’s even less for women. Creating a program for women seemed like a pretty good place to start,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and I have a real soft spot for women and kids. Having an opportunity to plant that flag first is really going to make a difference.”
While Brewitt admits he won’t be able to reproduce The Kettlby Ranch, the nine-bed men’s residential treatment home in York Region, the plans for the as-yet-unnamed women’s facility at 77 Tiffin St., in Barrie are well underway and it’s going to be just as impressive.
“I wish I could recreate The Ranch, but we just don’t have the money or the space. We really hunted high and low and it was a challenge as to whether we were just going to buy a lot and build or take on a reconstruction… but we kept coming back to 77 Tiffin St. … and we are going to make it an absolute gem.”
The Barrie facility, he said, will have 12 residential beds and six transitional beds. Like the Kettleby Ranch, guests will participate in a variety of programs including individual and group counselling sessions, daily 12-step meetings, activities to build and support sobriety and overall health and wellness — as well as employment and life-skills training to prepare them for successful employment as they transition out of the residential program.
Along with the 12-step program, which Brewitt described as the backbone of what Cornerstone does, they also do what’s called Stage 2 Recovery, which helps teach clients learn how to live with themselves and effectively communicate.
“Most addicts and alcoholics can’t tell you how they feel. They don’t know because they’ve been anesthetizing their feelings for so long. How do you get someone to talk to their partner about love when they don’t really feel it inside because the only really tight relationship they’ve had is with Johnny Walker,” he said. “They’ve been stuffing the pain down for so long (so) this teaches them how to be emotionally sober.”
All in the family
Brewitt is also a big proponent of family counselling, and acknowledged there is often a big difference between what men and women are dealing with when it comes to addiction.
“I can imagine some of the challenges my staff will have when they get up to Barrie. Women with children don’t necessarily want to talk about their addiction issues because they know (the Children's Aid Society) will take their kids away, so staff will need to figure out how to bridge that gap,” he said.
The first step to doing that is to address those fears.
“Not everyone is a bad mom. They may have done some bad things as a result of their addiction but if you treat the addiction then you help solve the issue," he said.
Community matters
Creating a sense of community — both inside and outside of the centre — is another key ingredient to the success of the programs Cornerstone offers.
“Part of what we do in terms of community isn’t just from reading from a book or sitting in a counselling session, but I also believe in giving back to the community,” Brewitt said.
Several times a month, the participants in the existing program volunteer at their local food bank as part of their ongoing therapy, he added. Alumni of the program also help create that ongoing sense of community, coming in weekly to talk about the challenges — and successes — they’ve experienced in their recovery.
“Who better to speak to the (people) who are sleeping in the beds than those who’ve slept in them? They are able to give them first-hand knowledge of what it’s like when you get out. I can tell them about it and show them, but it’s got a much bigger impact if the (alumni) come back and are able to share first hand. It’s the very definition of what community is,” said Brewitt. “They’re a part of it and they continue to be a part of it (and) this is one of the things we’re really planning on bringing to Barrie.”
With nearly 30 years involved in substance abuse, addictions and associated behaviours under his belt, Brewitt has worked in a variety of different programs over the years, and believes Cornerstone to Recovery has created something very special.
“I am very obviously passionate about what we do and how we do it. I've been to too many funerals. This is the best program I know of," he said.
