Emergency responders struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illness will soon have access to treatment options from the comfort of a scenic riverfront pasture.
Honour Ranch is being developed as a refuge offering mental health treatment and healing and respite for first responders and military personnel who are suffering from the effects of operational stress injuries.
The ranch is a 25-acre pasture located on the North Thompson River in Kamloops but it will be available to emergency responders across the province.
At its Monday meeting, Campbell River city council recommended city staff ensure that all local emergency responders have access to the new resource.
“If we could ask staff to forward this on to our local emergency service providers – search and rescue, fire, police, BC Ambulance – it would be much appreciated.”
Honour Ranch follows the success of Honour House, a place in New Westminster that offers free accommodation and support to emergency and military personnel and their families who have to travel to Metro Vancouver for health care.
The house was founded by Hon. Lt. Col. Allan De Genova, who started the facility after learning about the personal and financial challenges those on the front lines have endured in trying to access health care, as well as complications, such as suicide, that arise when conditions go untreated.
De Genova said Honour Ranch is building on that success and offers one-day and longer-term mental health treatment programs in a serene setting.
“Therapy programs will be in place in the late spring of next year and we’ll be connecting with emergency services and armed forces executives in Campbell River and the surrounding area shortly to find out how we can help their members,” De Genova wrote in a letter to city council. “With your leadership, we will be able to support the men and women in uniform in your community who put their lives on the line to keep us safe, unconditionally each and every day.”
The ranch is expected to provide a range of therapies on site that are adaptable to each individual.
De Genova is also hoping that the ranch will help reduce the stigma around mental disorders that often hinders people from seeking out treatment.
At the ranch, treatment could involve simply going camping as a family by the river or going out in a boat and fishing – just getting back to nature and escaping from the daily grind.
On Monday, Coun. Charlie Cornfield suggested that the city’s human resource (HR) staffers be notified about Honour Ranch and the services it’s expected to offer.
“I think it’s important that HR be well aware of the resources out there if they’re not already,” Cornfield said.
City Manager Deborah Sargent said De Genova’s letter could “certainly” be referred to the appropriate city staff.
