Overview
Portage British Columbia is a non-profit organisation that established a rehabilitation centre for adolescents in January 2009 in Keremeos, near Penticton. This was done in cooperation with the British Columbia government and local non-profit organisations.
Portage offers comprehensive services within a continuum of care model aimed at helping users to overcome addictions. Its programs, which are based on the therapeutic community approach, encourage personal growth and enable users to transform their lives.
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Portage British Columbia Board of Directors consists of volunteers who are involved in their communities. The Board ensures proper governance of Portage activities in British Columbia.
Portage at Keremeos, a 58-acre property, provides treatment for up to 42 youth, aged 14-18. Clients live on site for between six months to a year, depending on their needs. At Portage, residents can complete their high school education and receive vocational counselling.
In recognition of a lack of long term residential treatment centres for addicted youth in British Columbia, Portage was approached for assistance in 2007 by community organisations From Grief to Action and Central City Foundation (CCF), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Portage BC continues to seek affiliations with local and provincial organisations and authorities.
The Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health provide social reintegration services once the program is completed. CCF led the capital fundraising campaign, raising $6.5 million to make the "The Crossing" available to Portage and to build the centre.
To make a donation or if you would like more information concerning the fundraising campaign, contact Colette Taylor, Senior Director, Development, by email at fondation@portage.ca
Resident's Manual