Our Services
Community Residential Facilities (CRF)
Genesis House opened in July 2000. Built in 1898, it is a large, beautiful, white heritage house located at the corner of Carnarvon and Merivale in residential New Westminster, British Columbia. The house has been fully renovated inside to include additional showers and washrooms. The bedrooms have also been refurbished, and their floors have been restored to the original state. Genesis House can accommodate up to 20 residents in single, double, and triple occupancy rooms. Rooms are locked and residents have their own key.
Maria Keary Cottage opened in March 2010 upon completion of a major construction project that involved restoring the twin cottages built as rental properties for the widow Maria Keary in 1887 on Carnarvon Street a stone’s throw from the current Genesis House. Samuel Maclure, who later became one of British Columbia’s most influential architects, designed and built the original houses in the Queen Anne style. Besides restoring the original houses under a Heritage Revitalization Agreement with the City, the Society joined the two houses into one and also added a two-storey addition at the rear. The main entrance to Maria Keary Cottage is now at the north end of the building off Dickenson Street (one block north of Carnarvon). The house features a fully-equipped weight room and an infrared sauna. All but one of the fifteen CRF beds are in double occupancy rooms. Rooms are locked and residents have their own access code.
Both Genesis House CRF and Maria Keary Cottage CRF specialize in serving persons with substance use issues and accept residents on the Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program. The Agency also hosts local Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. Staff at Maria Keary Cottage deliver the only residential program in Canada for adult male offenders on conditional release living with FASD utilizing highly structured and customized interventions that take into account the specific challenges faced by the individual client.
Both houses are close to public transportation with quick and easy access to most locations in the Lower Mainland. The Columbia SkyTrain station is a short walk away. The New Westminster Community Corrections (Parole) Office is also within walking distance. The Canada Games Pool & Fitness Centre and the Royal City Centre shopping mall are short distances away.
Each house has a cook and residents can have three meals daily (residents prepare their own breakfast in the morning and all meals on the weekend and on statutory holidays). Coffee is available through the day. There are laundry facilities in both houses and residents may purchase detergent at the Front Desk). Each house also has free cable T.V. in the rooms, one or two telephones for local calls and a computer terminal. The houses are staffed with awake staff on a 24/7 basis.
Correctional Programs
- Community Maintenance Program
- Community Program
- Methadone Maintenance Support Group Program
- FASD Offender Program including in-reach and outreach services, residential services while on conditional release, aftercare support
- Intensive Management Program – Reporting Centre
- Urinalysis Collection Service
- Community Employment Counsellor (CEC)
- MSD (Income Assistance) Liaison Officer
- Intervention Specialists (Temporary Detainee Unit)
Transitional and Supported Housing
In addition to the 15 CRF beds, Maria Keary Cottage also offers 20 low-barrier, harm-reduction beds for chronically homeless men. These transitional and supported housing beds are a response to the need identified in the December 2006 New Westminster Homelessness Action Strategy and Implementation Plan for “a minimum-barrier, harm-reduction supported housing facility for the chronically homeless.” Staff of Maria Keary Cottage offer housing and assistance to previously homeless men to help them stabilize their lives and overcome the barriers that keep them homeless.
(Main entry at rear off Dickenson Street, one block north of Carnarvon)