Alberta’s first addictions recovery home for lesbian, gay, and two-spirited people has opened in Edmonoton.
About 30 guests crammed into the kitchen and living room of a two-storey home in downtown Edmonton Nov. 28 for the opening of the Pîsimoyâpiy Rainbow Healing Lodge. Opening ceremonies included speeches, songs in Cree, and a thick haze of smudging smoke.
Pîsimoyâpiy (Cree for “rainbow,” and pronounced “peesee-mohyappy”) is the first addictions recovery home in Alberta dedicated to two-spirited, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (2SLGBTQ+) individuals. It is operated by Poundmaker’s Lodge Treatment Centres.
Many Indigenous people, especially 2SLGBTQ+ ones, face barriers when it comes to getting culturally appropriate treatment for addictions, Rick Wilson, Alberta’s minister of Indigenous relations, said to the crowd.
“This Rainbow Healing Lodge is going to provide safe and inclusive housing tailored for the unique needs of the 2SLGBTQIA+ people who are recovering from addictions so they can build a brighter future for themselves and their families and their communities,” he said.
“What a great idea. We need one of these in Wetaskiwin!” he quipped, referring to his home riding of Maskwacîs-Wetaskiwin.
This house will provide Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ clients with a safe place to heal with the support of elders, therapists, and other specialists, Poundmaker’s executive director Brad Cardinal told the crowd.
“The end result is our people will get better.”
House of healing
Poundmaker’s is an addictions treatment centre in St. Albert known for its use of Indigenous concepts such as the medicine wheel in therapy.
Poundmaker’s has opened recovery homes in St. Albert, Slave Lake, and Edmonton in recent years to help clients transition out of therapy, said Libby Szarka, special projects manager for Poundmaker’s. These homes give clients access to treatment and therapists as they find jobs and/or education in the community.
Research by the Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development and the Butler Centre for Research has found that Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ individuals are at greater risk of substance abuse due to racism, discrimination, and trauma. Research suggests treatment programs tailored for Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ clients could improve the health of these groups.
Mainstream recovery homes in Alberta often don’t give Indigenous clients access to elders or traditional ceremonies such as smudging, which was unfortunate in today’s age of reconciliation, Cardinal said in an interview.
“Why aren’t our people allowed to smudge in these publicly funded buildings?” he asked.
Szarka said many of their 2SLGBTQ+ clients wanted post-treatment support but felt unsafe at traditional recovery homes. Poundmaker’s purchased the Rainbow Healing Lodge building (a former boarding house) earlier this year to meet this need.
Szarka said the building needed extensive renovations, including new floors, doors, and electrical systems. Much of that work was being done by herself and volunteers — she and her crew were literally hammering away at it just hours before last week’s opening ceremony, and still had plenty more to do.
The house now has 10 bedrooms, three bathrooms, and two kitchens, and is open to anyone who completes an addictions treatment program, Szarka said. Poundmaker’s clients will have priority over others when it comes to getting spots in the house. Residents must be 18 or older, identify as 2SLGBTQ+, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and be willing to participate in Indigenous cultural practices.
Taabish, a bisexual Poundmaker’s client, said he turned to drugs as a way to cope with his struggles with his identity while growing up in a strict religious household. The Rainbow Lodge was a place where he could be with other 2SLGBTQ+ people, and he looked forward to living in it.
Poundmaker’s client Erin Beaucham-Alyward, who is genderfluid, also hoped to move into the lodge, and has already called dibs on one of its rooms.
“Walking in here, I didn’t expect it to be so welcoming and nice,” they said.
“It really does feel like home to me.”
Cardinal said Poundmaker’s plans to open a second Rainbow Healing lodge in Calgary.
The Rainbow Healing Lodge will be open for clients as of Dec. 15. Call Poundmaker’s at 780-458-1884 for details.
