Construction for Anne Oake women's recovery centre in Winnipeg to start 'as fast as humanly possible'

A foundation working to build a new addictions recovery centre for women in Winnipeg has raised half the funds it will need to begin construction, which Scott Oake says will happen "as fast as humanly possible" due to an overwhelming need in the community.

The Bruce Oake Memorial Foundation needs another $13 million to reach its $25-million goal to fund the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre, which will provide long-term care for women seeking addictions services. 

"I can only imagine how proud and how touched Anne would be today," Scott Oake said on Tuesday afternoon, during a sod-turning ceremony for the centre near Victoria General Hospital in south Winnipeg.

The centre is named after his wife, Anne Oake, an addictions treatment advocate. She died in 2021, shortly after the couple opened the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre — a treatment facility for men named in honour of their son, who died of a drug overdose in 2011. 

"The phone rings at the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre hundreds of times a day," said Scott Oake.

"You'd be surprised to know that many of those calls are from women and families wanting to know when the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre will open, so it has to happen sooner than later."

Oake said the women's-only centre will be larger than the Bruce Oake facility — a 43,000 square-foot building in Winnipeg's Crestview neighbourhood that cost $15 million — because it will also include a licensed daycare facility. 

That will help minimize barriers for women who may be afraid they could lose their children by accessing treatment at the centre, Oake said, adding that no one will be turned away because they can't afford treatment. 

The centre will have 50 to 70 treatment beds. 

Premier Wab Kinew, who also participated in the sod-turning, said Oake has turned his loss into a heartfelt and generous act for the community, which he called a "beautiful idea."

Kinew said he's attended multiple graduation ceremonies at the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre for people in the community, including one for someone he knew personally, calling that a testament to the work the foundation does. 

"We can go anywhere in Manitoba right now — there's very visible signs of the addictions crisis in downtown Winnipeg, but we also know in neighbourhoods like this one that the addictions crisis is lurking, in some cases unseen and in other cases very visibly," he said. 

Former Manitoba premier Gary Doer and Winnipeg Jets player Josh Morrissey, who are co-chairs of the fundraising campaign for the recovery centre, were also at Tuesday's sod-turning.

Morrissey said being part of the capital campaign was a "no-brainer," because addiction issues are more prevalent than ever. 

"Especially in sports, you know, there's sort of that gladiator mentality that you fight through anything, battle through anything. And obviously on the ice, and in certain situations, that can be true," Morrissey said. 

But in terms of mental health, "having some of the people that have stepped up in the hockey community and the sporting world as a whole to talk about their challenges … it impacts the community in general and hopefully inspires people to speak about their own issues," he said. 

Doer encouraged people attending the event to "put a few pucks in the net" and donate what they can toward the centre.