Campaign to save ATLAS Youth Treatment Centre gains momentum

Unless the provincial government and the NHA decide to continue funding ATLAS, the only youth residential addictions service in the northwest will close on December 31.

Vancouver (December 17, 2009) - Terrace City Council passed a resolution supporting ATLAS Youth Treatment Facility and urging the province and Northern Health Authority (NHA) to keep the facility open after hearing a presentation from the group, Friends of ATLAS, on Monday evening.

Youth facing drug and alcohol addiction will have to travel to Prince George to get the help they need - in an institutional setting rather than the 24-hour support that the residential program at ATLAS provides.

Sandy Watson, Friends of ATLAS member and youth and addictions counsellor with Terrace and District Community Social Services, says she hopes that pressure from the City of Terrace will make the province and NHA realize how important ATLAS is to the community.

"It's great to see council take such a supportive role," says Watson. "They understand the critical role that ATLAS plays here in Terrace."

Also on Monday, front-line staff and community supporters of ATLAS travelled to Prince George to make a presentation to the NHA asking them to re-consider the closure of the facility. The NHA board thanked them for the presentation and advised that they would discuss the matter further.

Last year more than 60 youth came to ATLAS to find the help they needed, in a caring and supportive environment that is a full-time home for them. Since it opened nine years ago ATLAS has helped more than 450 youth aged 12 to 18 from across the province deal with their addictions.

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