New Victoria landscaping company hiring people in addictions recovery

A new business in Greater Victoria is helping people make a living while maintaining their sobriety.

Your Place employs people who’ve completed the nine-month addictions treatment program at the New Roads Recovery Centre in View Royal. The company got up and running in March, and so far, it has hired two men in recovery.

“A job like this kind of makes sure that we can establish ourselves in the outside world,” said Dan Wright, a field technician who finished the New Roads program two weeks ago.

“I can focus on my recovery and focus on a new future that I definitely wouldn’t have had in my addiction.”

Your Place is associated with the Our Place Society, which helps people experiencing addiction and homelessness. Unlike the charity, Your Place is a for-profit business.

“The charitable model is really, really important, but if we can embed social good with business, now we’ve got real power,” Your Place general manager Paul Latour said in an interview with CTV News Vancouver Island.

The revenue is used to pay employees a living wage and benefits, Latour said.

One of the company’s goals is to help people in recovery overcome barriers to finding employment.

“Not everybody’s willing to give people coming out of a treatment centre a chance,” said field technician Kyle Rines, who completed his recovery program about six weeks ago.

Rines said he finds fulfilment in creating a sense of community with his colleagues and clients.

“Without that, it doesn’t take long for recovery to take a side step and fizzle out,” he said. “Giving back is what keeps one sober.”

During its first two months in business, Your Place has taken on roughly 50 landscaping clients. Margaret Sasges was the first and has become a repeat customer.

“These guys who are part of Your Place are taking big steps to try to overcome what has held them back before,” Sasges said. “If I can help in that process, I think it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

By the New Year, the team hopes to hire roughly six more people.

“Our long-term vision is to create an ecosystem of companies that give employment options to people that want to rebuild their lives,” Latour said.

CTV News spent a morning with the Your Place team. Watch the full story above.