POINT EDWARD, N.S. — At the core of Hope House is the idea that beauty and ingenuity comes from broken things, its board chair says.
And that is the same attitude that the organization is taking as the addictions recovery home that provides live-in addictions recovery for women deals with the aftermath of a fire.
“We have a few more broken things in our midst, but that’s OK, because I think there’s a lot of beauty and power that comes out of brokenness,” Dr. Laura Whyte said.
“This is a setback, but it’s just a bump.”
Whyte said in an interview Monday that the fire, which occurred Friday afternoon, started on the home’s deck and doesn’t appear to be suspicious in nature, although the cause hasn’t yet been determined.
From the deck, the fire spread into the mudroom and living room. The home suffered significant damage.
No one was injured, but residents had to be relocated. No residents were home at the time, but two staff people were on hand. Staff attempted to use fire extinguishers to put out the flames, but were unable to do so.
The home was covered by insurance for the material loss associated with the fire. Whyte said she expects Hope House will incur some costs associated with the relocation.
The charitable organization was established by concerned community members and first opened its doors to clients in January 2018. As part of its hands-on approach, clients help care for farm animals including goats.
Two baby goats were in the corner of the home when the fire started and staff got them out safely.
They’re still in the process of determining how operations may be affected as a result of the fire damage.
Whyte said they hope to maintain the core components of the program, such as group therapy and meditation.
“I think moving offsite we’ll still be able to maintain a fairly consistent program,” Whyte said.
Residents have been able to move back in temporarily as the bedroom area was not damaged, but they will again leave while repairs take place.
“Over Christmas week, it’s just really hard to get that done,” Whyte said.
Temporary accommodations have been donated by members of the community to house the nine affected women.
“We were really fortunate to be able to find that in the community,” she said. “After that, we’re going to need to find some sort of temporary living arrangements.”
That process is expected to take two to three months, as renovations take place.
The community has been extremely supportive of the home, Whyte added. As part of the project, clients are offered substance-free and skills-based programs running three to 12 months, depending on client needs.
“I’m not worried, the community steps up and makes it happen,” she said.
In the two years it’s been open, Hope House has assisted about 30 women.
The vision of the project’s founders is to empower women to experience freedom from addiction and to restore a sense of dignity and self-worth.
Community members interested in helping out residents at this time of need are advised to email Hope House at [email protected].
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