The Stepping Stones Recovery House in Courtenay is currently closed due to a lack of volunteers but its longterm future is also in jeopardy unless those positions are filled.
That leaves former clients like Leaha Steylen saddened for those who need help now.
Steylen has been clean for a almost year now and says the Stepping Stones Recovery House in Courtenay might have saved her life.
“It changed my life. Today I have a life,” she said. “And it’s pretty amazing, I work full-time, I have my own place now, my family is back in my life.”
But she get’s emotional when talking about the home and how it is now closed at a time when it’s needed more than ever.
“Because there are so many women out there like myself who need help,” said Steylen. “The drug crisis is bad right now. It’s really bad.”
The problem is the lack of volunteers.
Normally there are eight to 10 people who help assist with day-to-day life and supporting the women at Stepping Stones, but when COVID-19 hit, they left.
“They felt safe with the women who were here but when those women started to transition out, the volunteers didn’t feel safe with bringing new people in,” said Stepping Stones Executive Director Teresa McNicol.
The home gets government funding for every client it supports but it can’t get clients right now because it doesn’t have volunteers.
“Volunteers are just so essential for us because we get such a small per diem that’s how we operate, through volunteers,” added McNicol.
She says new safety protocols are now in place and the recovery house also looking to hire a house mom.
McNicol says no experience is necessary and the benefits are long-lasting.
“The benefits of volunteering are amazing because you get to see women walk through the door totally broken in despair to flourishing and changing and gaining hope,” said McNicol.
“Places like Stepping Stones need to be open so that women have a place to go,” added McNicol.
Stepping Stones can be reached at 250-897-0360
Dean Stoltz
