Recovery Resource Centre Opens in Downtown Eastside
The Ashtrey launches July 6 at 450 E. Hastings, honouring late advocate Trey Helten with low-barrier services and accelerated access to detox.
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A new recovery resource centre is opening in the Downtown Eastside in honour of late community pillar Trey Helten, whose nickname was Ashtrey.
The Ashtrey will open its doors July 6 as a full-service day centre at 450 E. Hastings St. The centre will offer food programs seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and stay open until 8 p.m. for recovery meetings. Sobriety is not required to access the centre, although recovery will be prioritized.
Helten was a tireless advocate who believed everyone was capable of turning their life around. He worked to meet people where they were at, and to connect them to services such as treatment and recovery. He died last year at 42 years old.
Executive director and founder Sarah Blyth, a close friend who worked with Helten at the Overdose Prevention Society, said the centre will continue his work by offering low-barrier services ranging from showers and access to laundry and food hampers and accelerated access to detox and recovery services. The Ashtrey will employ recovery navigators to help connect people with services and programs along their entire recovery journey.
Thanks to grant funding from Hockey Helps the Homeless in partnership with the Overdose Prevention Society, people who access the Ashtrey will have immediate access to a dedicated recovery bed at Together We Can, a recovery centre in Vancouver. Through the bed, people will be able to access Together We Can's 90-day program. The Ashtrey will have daily space for Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and SMART Recovery meetings.
