Private rehab centre for up to 8 patients gets permit from town
Centre north of Saint John would treat 'working class people before they lose everything'
Months before their plans caused a social media storm on Darlings Island, Adam Beman and his father, Mike, had been searching for a discreet setting for a program to help New Brunswickers recover from addictions.
"It had everything we required," Adam said of some land in the community a half-hour's drive north of Saint John that came up for sale for $1,290,000.
With its 3,000-square-foot luxury home plus outbuildings, the Bemans thought it would be a beautiful and serene location, where people could spend 30 to 90 days in total privacy, learning to live sober.
An offer was made and accepted, said Adam, and the Bemans expect to take possession in April of five hectares, or 12 acres, overlooking the Hammond River.
Clients would pay about $10,000 a month to stay and receive services such as counselling.
Adam said the rate "could be one of the cheapest in Canada." Thirty days of private treatment in Ontario centres cost between $19,000 and $28,000, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.
There's also a cost to not getting sober, Adam said.
"We like to get people before their marriages end and before their kids are estranged," he said. "It's a lot easier to stay focused on your recovery when you have those rewards waiting for you."
"This is a working class option. This will help people before they lose their house and their car and their marriage."
Personal experience inspired centre
So far, the project is entirely financed by the Beman family.
Mike Beman ran MK Auto Recyclers in Saint John before he retired and passed the daily operations along to his other son.
"I've been a businessman in the city for 30 years, and I think this is needed," Mike said. "It just breaks my heart, some of these stories."
Adam's addictions to alcohol and cocaine were devastating to the family.
"We were waiting for that phone call to say, you know, Adam's dead," Mike said. "Or [waiting] for the cops beating on the door or something. So we were — we told him — the last thing we're paying for is gonna be your funeral."
Adam, now married with children, said he's been sober since attending a private recovery centre in Nova Scotia in 2015 at a cost of $22,000. Ever since, he said, he's been dedicated to helping others.
"I continue to go to my meetings. I continue to work with people. I continue to give it back, you know, and all those things keep me on a path that I'm able to stay focused."
Plans for a spring opening
The Bemans are now recruiting staff — a certified addiction counsellor, a social worker, a cook and a nutritionist — and hope to have the property ready for clients by May or June.
Adam said the 12-step program at the core of Alcoholics Anonymous will form part of the foundation of the centre's program.
Groups that use the AA program may adopt language that is gender-neutral and religion-neutral, but some variations include surrendering to a "higher power."
Adam said there is no expectation that a client at the centre accept Christianity. The spiritual component is more about finding an inner stillness.
Recovery doesn't begin until someone is substance-free, he said.
"So upon entry they have to do a breathalyzer, they have to do drug screening and more often than not they're coming directly from a government facility to us."
Adam said the plan is to try to understand the backgrounds and needs of the people accepted into the program, even beyond their dependencies.
"I mean, we are very selective in who we will take, right? There's lots of stuff that is outside of our scope."
Project has town's approval
Darlings Island came under the jurisdiction of nearby Hampton after municipal reforms in 2023.
Hampton Mayor Robert Doucet said the town issued a permit on Jan. 2 to 277 Darlings Island Rd. for a private drug and alcohol recovery centre with six to eight beds.
No zoning changes were required.
"Anybody who does anything in our town usually they call to see if the zoning is OK before they move forward," Doucet said. "And basically the zoning is OK for the type of business they're going to put there."
Doucet said he is aware some residents are displeased.
"I've got quite a few emails, and so has the town, and honestly, there's nothing more we can say. It's basically in the provincial government's hands, I think."
No regulation by province
The New Brunswick Health Department says the province does not regulate private rehabilitation centres.
"The government is evaluating best practices in other jurisdictions, including whether the province should consider some form of regulation for private rehabilitation centres," says a statement provided by the department.
The Bemans said they'd planned to release information about the centre after the property seller was able to relocate.
But word of the project started spreading among the 1,200 followers of a Darlings Island Facebook page.
That group includes resident Heather Acker, who said she read a lot of the posts before they were taken down by the Facebook page administrator because they were dividing islanders.
Before the location was known, Acker started a separate group for discussion.
"We're a cute little sleepy little island with people who have been on it for 50-plus years. Where are we going to put it?"
Now they know where the centre is going, Acker said some people worry about the impact on their children, property values and crime.
"I mean it's not like it's a baby daycare."
One neighbour can see the backyard of the house on the property,, she said.
"There are families who have some really high concerns about their children getting off the bus. What about these people coming to and from this facility, what if they're under the influence? I could go on for an hour talking about all the different concerns that have been flushed up."
Petition calls for stop to project
Neither the town nor the Bemans are planning a public meeting about the project. The Bemans say they do intend to provide residents with more information online and through the mail.
Meanwhile, a petition has been moved to a private Facebook group for residents only.
Darlings Island resident Stephen Price started the petition, which calls for an immediate halt to the development.
"The installation of this center directly in our community deeply concerns us," the petition says, "due to various reasons that include potential increases in crime, a decrease in property values, and disturbance of the tranquil nature we're accustomed to."
"The plan disregards the community's input, and instead, directly affects our lives, our safety, and indeed our home values."
Buyer beware, counsellor advises
The Bemans' centre would open without accreditation, but they said they may seek it down the road.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction is the only pan-Canadian agency with a legislated mandate to provide national leadership to address substance use and addiction in Canada.
Timothy Deloughery, a certified addiction counsellor with the centre, said accreditation for private rehabilitation programs is optional in most provinces.
He said most accreditation authorities require a centre to be operational for at least six months before its standards are reviewed.
Benefits of accreditation might include validation for insurance claims, and claims under Veterans Affairs, and a regulatory body to receive complaints.
"It would show a mark of excellence with their work," Deloughery said.
He advises families to beware and ask questions about the services they're getting for their money.
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