Isuarsivik gets keys to new recovery centre in Kuujjuaq
Nearing completion, treatment centre offering 22 beds set to welcome first guests in April
Kuujjuaq artist Alec Gordon’s avalaqiak design lights up the exterior of the new Isuarsivik building in Kuujjuaq. (Photo courtesy of Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre)
Nunavik’s new addiction treatment centre building is nearing completion in Kuujjuaq.
The Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre shared an update Monday on social media that its staff have been given the keys to the new building, marking the official delivery of the new centre located on the edge of the Koksoak River.
“Holding these keys in our hands means the world to us because we can truly feel the work that has been done to get here,” said a post from the centre’s official Facebook page.
“Holding these keys also means that we can start the real transition to our new facility and get ready to welcome our first guests in April 2023.”
The process of moving furniture and other supplies into the new 22-bed building is to begin over the next few days, according to spokesperson Marie-Helene Caron.
A large “first of its kind” qulliq — a traditional Inuit lamp — carved by Mattiusi Iyaituk and Benjamin Isaac has been completed, Caron said in an email. With a length of about 86 centimetres, the lamp will soon be installed.
Benjamin Isaac, left, and Mattiusi Iyaituk are seen here working on a large qulliq, which will welcome visitors in the new Isuarsivik building. (Photo courtesy of Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre)
The outside of the building is lit up at night in the shape of a large avalaqiak plant, taken from Isuarsivik’s logo. That part of the building was designed by Kuujjuaq artist Alec Gordon.
“It personifies the true meaning of resiliency, very similar to Isuarsivik’s guests who want to be reborn or start afresh from the negative vicious circle linked to addiction and trauma,” Caron wrote.
She said she’ll soon have a final cost figure for the new building. The building budget required an increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other delays.
According to a 2019 news release from Isuarsivik, a provincial infrastructure evaluation estimated the cost of a new centre at $40.5 million. The federal and provincial governments have chipped in millions, and the centre has a link on its website for private donations.
After patients begin moving in next spring, a public opening is scheduled for Sept. 20, Caron said.
What happen to the commet section concerning the shooting in Kuujjuaq ?
We don’t talk about such things as shootings in kuujjuaq, and neither will we acknowledge it at our healing times with treatment Center or other healing places. Hey, do you want to make a bad name for alcohol? Bad name for alcohol could hinder programs,
When isuarsivik opens, will there be games, like Christmas games for clients and family, even community? Just saying. Like guess how many clients came in to healing in one year, and how many are now in jail? Guess how many referrals are from jail, court, and not motivation from the client themselves? How many clients are having a good alcohol free life, of at least having a good life , even if they still drink? Isuarsivik will be closely observed by Nunavik when it opens, just to see how it is doing , and how it will make a real difference. Let’s see in a year after opening.
Nunavik has to be one of the most expensive places on the planet for drinking. Isuarsivik cost 40 million, and that’s not considering operating cost. The coop stores in kuujjuaq makes millions on booze. The marche stores in Montreal makes millions. The airlines cargo millions on shipping alcohol. Landholding corporation. Like hotels , bars. And we talk about people spending money, not on housing or food. Some is wrong, next time we discuss lack of this and that. , or I never mention , correction cost and medical, including transportation. Who believes Nunavik makes its own housing problems?
At the rate of alcohol related problems , as it grows and grows, and it grows some more. Nunavik will need more centers , more keys will need to be passed over. I don’t know what’s going to be busier: the beer and wine outlets or the treatment Center? Surely it will be passed on as usual to the health centers and corrections. When the discussion on alcohol is on the go in board rooms, no attention is paid to medical and criminal. Nunavik will continue to suffer greatly from alcohol. Alcohol will never in the life time as we know it, be handled well in Nunavik’s population.