The residentsof Area E have serious concerns regarding a transition house on Pratt Road, as witnessed by thepacked Elphinstone Electors Association meeting June 10.
Your newspaper has only reported one side of the story, VisionQuest's side, for two weeks in a row. It is not fair that your paperbelittle and vilify residents of the neighbourhood for trying to gatherinformation about how a transition house was snuck into their communityand for being concerned aboutsafety.
The public needs factual information on this issue.Opinions from people like Cathie Roy and Ed Hill are nothelpful or useful. Sunshine Coast residents want information thatis documented and proven to be true. When a professional like Michael Maxwell, director of health and social development for the Sechelt Indian Band, says VisionQuest's treatment practices arequestionable and thatVisionQuest is not supported by addiction experts on the Coast,thisis valid information.
Reporter staffwill need to do someresearchregarding the 100 transition houses now operating in Surrey. Find out aboutthe disaster that has been created bysome ofthose societies rentinghousesin those neighbourhoods under the guise of transition houses. Please ensure Cathie Roy and otherreporter staff check the facts regarding the operators of the facility calledVisionQuest and print all of the information in the paper so residents of the Sunshine Coast can make informed decisions about this VisionQuest transition house.The public has a right to knowwhether these places arepoorlymanaged homes and what they can do about it.
Is it not the duty of local community newspapers to report issues fairly? Surely an issue like the safety of our neighbourhoods should be cause enoughto examine more closelyhow these transition/recovery houses are run?
Eliz Hook
Gibsons
