Hope Terrace
Bissell Centre provides supportive housing for people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This is the first such facility in Canada that offers 24 hour support services for people with FASD.
The apartment complex is owned and operated by Homeward Trust with Bissell Centre providing in-house and outreach support for the people who live there.
Support Services Available
Bissell Centre staff provide support 24 hours a day/365 days a year and are trained and equipped to assist people with FASD. FASD supportive housing staff provide tenants with a stable home environment, opportunities to integrate into the community, goal-setting sessions, and assistance with attending medical appointments, court appearances, mental health supports, and other commitments.
Support staff also arrange for group outings, have some on-site cultural support and offer off-site Indigenous supports for tenants. In addition to this, an Occupational Therapist is on-site that offers a strengths-based Executive Function Performance Test in order to assess and assist tenants with increasing daily living skills. The OT also offers Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for the implementation of change-oriented strategies. DBT is useful for assisting tenants in areas such as mental health, trauma, or emotional regulation. The staff also provides mental health and harm reduction education and support for residents
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum of Services (FASD)
Bissell Centre has been providing support for people with FASD for over 13 years. The FASS program focuses on prevention and awareness to support the well-being of individuals and families affected by FASD.
Please visit Fetal Alcohol Spectrum of Services for more information.
Den of Willows
Home as long as its residents need, Bissell Centre’s first Supportive Recovery House, Den of Willows, is a space of safety, healing, and connection.
Named through Ceremony led by Indigenous Sweat Lodge Keeper and Pipe Carrier Orest Zwozdesky, Den of Willows embodies the protective and nurturing nature of the bear as well as the medicine, ceremony, and flexibility of the willow.
Both the sweat lodge, made with young willow trees, and the bear’s den are places in-between, meant for letting go of things that no longer serve us, making space for the body to heal, and building dreams of a better future.
When we emerge, like bear cubs and catkins in the Spring, we share our growth with each other and demonstrate it to the greater community. Like the willow, this demonstration establishes roots allowing for a sense of belonging to grow, the spirit of Wahkotowin to have a home, and a stronger together approach to be held at the forefront of our connections.
Program Overview
This program provides substance-free, co-ed, shared-living accommodation for those transitioning out of treatment and in need of supportive housing, with a diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of FASD. Housing is paired with coordinated supports such as life-skills development, employment readiness, cultural support and connections to health and community services. Recovery is also bolstered through peer support and fostering a sense of community.
Coordinated Supports
- Life-skills development
- Employment readiness
- Cultural support
- Connections to health services
- Connections to community services
- Peer support
- Community connection and belonging