Francis attends women’s centre grand opening with other SaskParty MLAs

By Joan Janzen

Ken Francis, MLA for Kindersley, was present for the grand opening of Starlight House Women’s Treatment Centre, which took place on Oct. 19. The residence is an addition to Prairie Sky Recovery Centre (PSR) at Leipzig, which is a 70-minute drive northeast of Kindersley. Francis was accompanied by Cut Knife - Turtleford MLA Ryan Domotor, and Biggar - Sask Valley MLA Randy Weekes.

“Leipzig is a very close convergence of our three constituencies, and we collectively share the appreciation and pride for this facility and the folks that operate it,” Francis said at the grand opening.

L-R: Ken Francis, MLA for Kindersley, Maxine Reimer representing Starlight House and Ryan Domotor, MLA for Cut Knife / Turtleford. SUBMITTED PHOTO

A young woman by the name of Starlight inspired the name of the women’s only residence. As a client, she needed more time to connect with her children in a supportive environment, so the residence will provide the foundation for recovery for families in the future.

Many female clients have lost custody of their children through active addiction and have never benefited from a healthy, loving home or safe environment. Others have been victims of domestic violence and abuse. The motto for Starlight House - “Healing Happens Here” - is very fitting, as the house, which was built in 1917, has undergone a transformation, just as the women who live there will experience transformation and healing.

The 3000 square foot house was converted into a secure home, with four shared rooms with two beds each, a staff room, and a family room for children’s visitation. The main floor includes a large living room and a big, bright kitchen.

The structure will serve as a regular home where clients will share the duties of shopping, prep work, cooking and housekeeping. There’s also a space available where PSR staff can host workshops on resume building, meal planning and household budgeting.

A facilitation space has been provided where clients can work on programs which address issues many of them have faced. These include intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, parenting in recovery, financial literacy, healthy boundaries, and anger management.

The objective at PSR is for their clients to be empowered to know how to properly run and maintain a household so that they can provide a safe, healthy, clean environment for their own families upon their return. This is why family reunification is a huge part of Starlight House, where they plan to host supervised weekend visits between the clients and their children. This will allow clients who are in the early stages of sobriety to have support and time to get reacquainted with their kids while their mom is still in treatment.

The women clients will travel to the main building throughout the day to attend programming and will return to their home after class for scheduled activities, meetings and homework. A Residential Recovery Coach will oversee evening activities, such as movie night and games night. This will be a time when clients learn a host of card and board games, which they can play with their own children when they come to visit.

Ken Francis took the opportunity at the home’s grand opening to commend PSR’s efforts, saying, “It’s great to see such a special, rural gem maintained and used for such a great initiative.”