Lennon House welcomes first male residents

Lennon House, a temporary home for people recovering from addictions and co-occurring mental health disorders, welcomed its first male residents last week.

The registered charity opened in late April, but up until now has only provided services to women. There are 12 women and three men now living there. It has a staff of 15.

Residents have been getting help with relationships, education and preparing for work and housing, said Dianne Young, director of Lennon House.

The men have rooms on a different floor than the women, and some of the programming is separate as well, Young said.

It's amazing to watch, really.— Dianne Young, Lennon House

"We just wanted to be really comfortable and have a good, sound foundation under us before we added males to the mix."

Young said the community support has been amazing. A local teacher has volunteered to tutor some residents to help them get their GED.

"What we want to do is prepare them for the world, basically getting them ready to be employed," Young said.

Young said the centre is making a difference in their lives.

"It's amazing to watch, really," she said.

"When they first come, they're quite broken, really hard on themselves, full of guilt, full of shame, they haven't taken care of themselves, they haven't seen a dentist in a number of years, they haven't been eating healthy," she said.

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