Rising Above FSJ seeks new sobriety residence

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A non-profit in Fort St. John is looking for a new residence to help men seeking sobriety. 

According to a Facebook post uploaded to Rising Above FSJ’s page on April 15th, the organization is actively searching for a suitable residence to launch a new initiative.

Martin Weideman, executive director of Rising Above FSJ, said that there have been requests and demands from men looking for help in terms of sobriety.

“The location we’re at now, the landlord seeks only to have women at that location…so we are looking for a different venue, a house of some sort, either in Fort St John or on the outskirts to be able to accommodate a men’s program as well,” Weideman added. 

The new place, he said, will offer a “structured residential training program [meant] for those seeking sobriety, personal development, including work skills.” 

The skills offered at the new place will be developed with community partners over time, he said. 

“We would start off with getting people…occupational health and safety certifications,” he added. “We would also like to see them develop heavy equipment operating skills…as there’s quite a demand for that kind of thing around.”

Weideman believes there is a “big need” for this new residence, not just in the Fort St. John community but also in other communities. 

He added: “Being a resource where people actually can come into a residential program, it’s very important that we can help them get direction.” 

Weideman wants to start this initiative with an initial goal of helping 20 men a year and eventually have 50 people in the program. 

“I would think just from the people and the calls that we’ve received, we unfortunately couldn’t help because we’re currently just focused on women, I would see that we could easily [help] maybe 40 to 50 men a year [or] even more,” he noted. 

Weideman is looking to “hopefully” fund this new project through government grants or see if anybody would be willing to donate a residence. 

“[The] community has been very supportive of the women’s facility,” he said. “We do have [a] relationship with businesses and in the community, and we [will] probably reach out to them and ask them if they want to become a partner in this venture.” 

When asked if Weideman had a message for the community, he said: “We really want to address this need in our community and also in other communities.” 

“We’re part of a bigger picture here, and so we’re confident we can help people deal with these life-challenging issues and help them break free from the cycles of defeat in their lives.” 

People interested in supporting Rising Above FSJ find a new residence can contact Martin Weideman by phone: 250-264-8943 or via email: execdir@risingabovefsj.ca.