INSIDE: Abby homeowner charged with fraud
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Feeding Mission
T H U R S D A Y August 29, 2013
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E N T E R T A I N M E N T abbotsfordtimes.com
Cities to vote on lower speed limits New law would drop default speed to 40 km/h on city roads CHRISTINA TOTH CToth@abbotsfordtimes.com
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open to living along spiritual lines, and to live righteously.” The men must be sober for 72 hours before they’re accepted into a house, which is supervised by house facilitators. Clients are kept busy as they follow a strict regimen of daily group work, counselling, bible study, church and 12-step recovery programs. There are daily house chores, and at the farm, this will include caring for the resident goats, pigs, chickens and a future garden, said Korkowski. The program is a minimum 90 days, although many choose to stay longer. Korkowski noted there has been some opposition from neighbours, but she invites those with concerns to see visit the facilities. “We have an open-door policy – come check us out,” she said. If their proposal is approved, Joshua House plans to have the facility running by late fall. Korkowski can be reached at joshuahouse@shaw.ca.
he City of Victoria wants you to ease off on the gas pedal. It’s taking a proposal to the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver next month to cut the default provincial speed limit in municipalities to 40 kilometres an hour, down from 50 km/h. Municipalities could still choose to have higher speeds for specific roads in their jurisdictions, such as on rural roads. While the District of Mission has created a 40 km/h zone along five blocks of its downtown corridor, Mayor Ted Adlem said he is not keen on a province-wide slow down. “It’s not something I could support – 50 kilometres an hour is a reasonable speed to be driving in municipalities, generally,” he said. “It’s been successful for downtown Mission. In some areas, like downtown Mission, where the trucks were doing more than 50 km/h, I think a reduction in spots is fair.” Mission cut the speed on First Avenue last winter after business operators and residents raised concerns about pedestrian safety as more and more large logging, gravel and other tandem trucks sped down the oneway route. But it’s not an option that Abbotsford’s mayor Bruce Banman believes will benefit the province. “When you look at the newer cars, newer technology, the automatic braking systems, where it’ll stop a car when something stops in front of you, and I think that would include pedestrians, I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said. “There are already provisions for municipalities, they have the ability to reduce speeds as they see fit. I don’t think people would support this.”
– WITH FILES FROM THE PROVINCE
– WITH FILES FROM THE TIMES COLONIST
– JEAN KONDA-WITTE/TIMES
Angie Korkowski hopes the City of Abbotsford will approve a rural Joshua House addictions treatment residence for men at later this fall.
Farming out the recovery process CHRISTINA TOTH CToth@abbotsfordtimes.com
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here is something about cuddling a young calf or a baby goat that can draw out the tender side of people, even in a street-hardened addict whose life has been tempered on the rougher side of life. Now an Abbotsford addictions recovery program is eager to get the city’s homeless and addicted off the street and working toward sobriety with their hands and hearts on a farm. A public hearing for a Joshua House application for a rural treatment facility was set for Monday, but due to a publication error, the city had to postpone the meeting until Sept. 23. The Christian-based non-profit society intends to set up two 10-bed licensed and supervised recovery houses on a nine-acre farm it rents at 29183 Fraser Hwy., Abbotsford. The city council has already passed the first reading of a rezon-
Public hearing on proposal for Christian-based rural recovery home delayed until Sept. 23 ing amendment, and the Agricultural Land Commission has approved the plan, for this applicant only. The two homes on the site were grandfathered in earlier. “We’re just wanting expand the vision and the ministry to include the farming aspect,” said executive director Angie Korkowski, who founded the Joshua House ministry with husband Richard Korkowski in 2005. “There’s nothing better than seeing a man covered in tattoos, who’s been on the street, who was addicted, bottle-feeding a little calf. It’s very therapeutic for them,” said Korkowski, who is a recovering addict herself. Joshua House runs five recovery homes in B.C., including two homes in Abbotsford, licensed by the city as treatment facilities since 2008.
Korkowski said they first brought the application for the Fraser Highway site forward about a year ago, but it’s been held up at the city. In that time, Joshua House could have provided shelter and hope for some of the city’s homeless, she noted. “Potentially, we could’ve taken 20 people off the street. It’s sad the meeting was postponed and now it’s going to be the rainy season.” While the ministry is Christianbased, it accepts people of all faiths, or no particular faith at all, Korkowski said. Going to church, however, is part of the deal. “We tell them straight out what the rules are. They know they have to go to church, but they don’t seem to mind,” said Korkowski. “We’ve had Sikhs, Satanists, Muslim, all kinds. We just hope they are
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