Correspondence from Woodwynn Farms re: Letter of Support to ALC
A request for a letter of support for an application to the BC Agricultural Land Commission for a 3-year permit for a therapeutic community.
November 9, 2015
View Royal Town Hall C/O Mayor and Council 45 View Royal Avenue Victoria, BC V9B 1A6
Re: letter of support to the BC Agricultural Land Commission File#54428
On September 8, 2015, our organization, the Creating Homefulness Society submitted an application to the BC Agricultural Land Commission (and also, the District of Central Saanich) for a 3 year permit to ramp up activities at our Woodwynn Farms Therapeutic Community for the Homeless.
In recognition of the regional relevance of the problems and issues relating to homelessness, and the need for regional solutions, we request a letter of support from you, toward the goals and objectives outlined in our application.
Thank you,
Richard Leblanc Founder & Executive Director Creating Homefulness Society Woodwynn Farms www.woodwynnfarms.org
Note: You are also invited to coordinate a site tour of our facility. Please contact our office to arrange.
Enclosed:
- Key points
- Application document
- Case for Support
Key Points
Application
- this is not a request for rezoning
- there is NO request to remove any land from the Agricultural Land Reserve (nor have we ever)
- there is no request for permanent housing structures
- the temporary structures would occupy less than 1% of our land base
- this application represents a scaling down from previous requests of 120 people, to only 40 people on our 193 acre farm
Woodwynn Farms
- In our 6 1/2 years of operations, there have been NO POLICE INCIDENTS at our farm, or in the neighbourhood, as relates to activities by our participants
- Our focus is on full reintegration into society
- Our success measures are Sobriety and Self-Reliance. The ability to stay clean and sober, and the ability to get and keep a job. Many mental health issues are addressed in the process (depression, anxiety, ADHD, OCD, stabilized schizophrenia and bipolar, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, etc..)
- Woodwynn is a comprehensive, and long-term program for our participants. Recognizing that 30 or 90 day ‘quick fixes’ generally don’t work, we offer a 12 months + opportunity for lasting change
Therapeutic Community Model
- Rural therapeutic communities can achieve 70%+ success rates
- The therapeutic community model is a flow-through to self-reliance. The objective is to no longer be dependant on our social services.
- We are modelled after the world’s most successful example, San Patrignano, Italy. San Patrignano has worked with almost 26,000 clients over a 38 year period, and has a verified 72% success rate
- We’ve worked closely with senior management at San Patrignano for almost 9 years now. And our Executive Director has also spent 7 days living and learning onsite.
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