Celebrating Freedom from Addiction at the first-ever Portage BC Recognition Ceremony
May 2, 2010 was a great day of celebration at Portage Keremeos at “The Crossing”. In the presence of family, staff, government representatives, members of the community and their peers, several young residents were recognised for completing the residential phase of their drug addiction treatment and others were honoured for having maintained a positive lifestyle for one year.
“It has taken many years and the support of many community organisations to establish a Portage residential rehabilitation centre in British Columbia,” said Peter Howlett, President of Portage. “I am extremely happy and proud to be celebrating our first anniversary here today, but even more so to be honouring these young people who have taken back control of their lives and now have bright, drug-free futures ahead of them.”
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Photo: Darci Doiron, a Portage Keremeos graduate speaks at the Portage BC Recognition Ceremony. Behind her, from left to right are the Honourable Steve Thomson, MLA for Kelowna-Mission and Minister of Agriculture and Lands; Peter Howlett, President of Portage; Peter Vamos, Executive Director of Portage.
Introducing Portage BC’s new Director of Development
 Now well into its second year of operations, Portage in British Columbia is pleased to announce the appointment of its first Director of Corporate Development, Ms. Jae Kim. In this new role, Jae will manage stakeholder relations and broaden the base of fundraising for Portage in BC.
A lawyer by training, Jae brings a diverse background in finance, government, and fundraising to her work with Portage British Columbia.
Prior to joining Portage, she was the CEO and President of the Streetohome Foundation, which she helped launch. Streetohome is the first organisation in Vancouver to take a systematic approach to addressing both homelessness and its root causes by bringing together all sectors of the community – business, non-profits, government, and citizens.
A graduate of Oxford University law school, she was a litigator for six years, handling complex civil litigation including white collar crime. During this time, she handled pro bono cases on death row reprieves, political asylum for refugees, and women’s issues such as advocating for sex trafficking legislation.
Jae also volunteered on the board of the Women’s Leadership Forum Network, a Democratic Party committee, concentrating on engaging young women in politics and fundraising initiatives.
Jae is excited to be joining the Portage team and looks forward to helping bring Portage to the next level in BC.
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WATCH THE NEW PORTAGE BC VIDEO!
Portage Keremeos residents, graduates, staff, and British Columbia Board Members speak about how Portage helps BC youth seek Freedom from Addiction.
To watch the video, click here
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NEWSBITES
The gym is now open and the Sport Chek donations are in! Portage Keremeos is now equipped to get fit! The new gym is officially open, stocked with free weights and a set of weight training and exercise machines provided by Rocky Mountain Fitness in Kelowna. The Sport Chek donation of sports equipment has also arrived and Portage has been coordinating recreational programming for the residents. With brand new balls, bats, sticks, nets, pinnies, and more, residents now have the opportunity to get back in touch with their favourite sports.
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"Portage has given me the opportunity to achieve my goals - to help me with my family and work through my problems, not around them. To be able to do the things that I wasn't able to do before, it's really encouraging, it's inspiring. It lifts me up and it really helps with my daily life."
- Robert, Portage Keremeos graduate and recipient of the Portage BC Adolescents Bursary Program honouring the Central City Foundation
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Portage Academy in BC: Q&A with the coordinator of services at Portage Keremeos
 All Portage centres for youth offer mandatory on-site school programming, recognised by local school boards and adapted to the needs of the residents. Whereas in the past many Portage residents have struggled with school and some have even abandoned their studies altogether, Portage Academy helps them rediscover their academic abilities and often reawakens the drive to complete secondary school and even to go on to post-secondary studies.
Barbra Paterson is the Principal of the Outreach School and the Okanagan-Similkameen Learning Centres and she coordinates the services offered by the school board to the Portage Academy program at Portage Keremeos. Her enthusiasm for learning and for facilitating the academic experience for Portage residents is evident in her appreciation for the impact that Portage Academy has on the youth. She eagerly engaged in a Question and Answer session to better explain what Portage Academy is all about.
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Portage Keremeos staff learn about Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Portage provides access to training and
development for personnel in its efforts to continuously better the
service offering.
A relatively new form of treatment, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is particularly effective on people who suffer from Borderline Personality Disorders, says Leslee Armstrong, a social worker at Portage Keremeos who is currently undergoing a series of training sessions at the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Centre in Portland, Oregon. To date, she has attended an introductory conference, another on eating disorders, and will be going to one in the fall on teens and families.
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Portage across Canada
The Accreditation Canada visit
 All Portage centres
participating in the accreditation process had their Accreditation
Canada visit during the week of June 7-11. Each of these centres had
received the Accreditation Primer in 2008 and 2009. The purpose of this
year’s visit was to complete the accreditation process, demonstrating
the continuous improvement of the quality of Portage’s services, the
competency of the staff members, and the expertise of the organisation.
At the end of the week, the Accreditation Canada
surveyors expressed how delighted they were to have visited Portage,
thanking the staff members for their warm welcome and their patience.
They noted the flexibility and adaptability of the organisation and the
very high quality of services and care offered to residents. The
surveyors were struck by the devotion, passion, and creativity of
Portage staff members and praised Portage’s continuing efforts to
improve practices and measures to ensure the safety of residents. They
were especially impressed by Portage’s focus on residents and their
families, enthusiastically highlighting the Recognition Ceremonies, the
official recognition of each resident who completes the Portage program.
Accreditation Canada’s Board of Directors will be
making their official decision about Portage’s accreditation status in
the coming days. Portage is pleased to have participated in this
process and is committed to maintaining all the improvements that have
been made, while continuously bettering its service offering.
Portage across Canada
GAIN training
 At the end of April, a group of Portage staff members attended a training session on the GAIN questionnaire (Global Appraisal of Individual Needs) at the Chestnut Health Systems facility in Illinois. Portage is currently preparing to shift to the GAIN system to assess new residents at the admission phase.
Established in 1993, the GAIN has received widespread recognition as an evidence-based assessment technique for both adults and adolescents. It is a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment tool that supports a number of treatment practices, including initial screenings, brief interventions, referrals, standardised clinical assessments for diagnosis, placement and treatment planning, monitoring of changes in clinical status, service utilisation, costs to society, and subgroup and program-level needs assessment and evaluation.
About Portage
Portage is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping people who are suffering from substance abuse-related problems to overcome their dependencies and to live healthy, happy and productive lives. Portage is a vital and progressive force in the drug addiction treatment field in North America, with service centres in Québec, New Brunswick, Ontario, and British Columbia. Through drug addiction treatment best practices and the therapeutic community approach, Portage helps residents develop their self-esteem, confidence, and the competencies necessary to overcome addiction.
Portage has been operating drug rehabilitation centres in Canada for over 35 years. Portage British Columbia was established in 2009.
Read more about Portage’s mission, vision, and values.
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Portage Keremeos names its first Employee of the Year
The honour was bestowed at the Portage BC Recognition Ceremony to Nicholas Peddle, a case worker who had previously completed his own drug addiction rehabilitation program at Portage Atlantic in 2002. Nicholas has been working at Portage Keremeos since the facility first opened. His personal success is an inspiration to the residents. Congratulations Nicholas!
What to do after residential drug addiction therapy? Portage Keremeos opens residents’ eyes to the possibilities
Preparing for reintegration back into society is an important component of Portage’s drug addiction rehabilitation treatment. The socio-cultural recreational programming available at each Portage centre provides residents with opportunities to see and try new things, giving them hope for the future as well as ideas of how they can contribute to the community.
Read more...
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