Lead by the Founder Dave Kenny, the House of Sophrosyne was brought to life by a number of community representatives, some in recovery themselves, some from business, from social agencies and from local clergy.  At the time, the need for a women\'s only residential treatment facility was dire, the Provincial Detoxification service and Brentwood were both for males only.  Women alcoholics (and addicts) were the community\'s well-hidden secret, often called "kitchen drunks" women alcoholics were quietly drinking or using drugs in their homes often with no one aware, or wanting to know, of their addictions.

 

Overcoming the huge challenges associated with financing the House, the founding Board succeeded and the House had its first overnight guest Tuesday November 14th, 1978.  Everyone associated with opening the House knew that there would be a slow start as women in the community would have to acknowledge to themselves, and their loved ones, that they did have a problem that required residential treatment.  That first night in the House, Bessie Cockburn, a 65 year old woman with white hair came in for treatment.  Not only did the House educate Bessie, Bessie taught everyone involved that the face of an addicted woman takes all shapes, is all colours, it is the face of a mother, sister, aunt or cousin, a friend or lover.  The stereotype of chemically dependant woman has been shattered every day since the doors of the House were opened, you need only look inside today to understand.

 

Through the years there has always been the financial struggle to keep the doors open. Funding has come and gone, and come again. The program itself has changed.  In 1978 the House was considered more of a place to detoxify. The program evolved through time to its current form as a treatment facility.  Though the House itself remains a residential treatment facility, there are numerous community based programs that range from pre-treatment to aftercare, including childcare and alumnae support meetings.  In those first years it seemed almost impossible to foresee any distant future for the House alone, and yet now our future encompasses a wealth of support and information for all women in recovery and their families.

 

From Bessie Cockburn, "The First Lady of Sophrosyne" as the late Dave Kenny called her, to the 4790 plus women who have come to the House in the past almost thirty years, the House has continued to do as its founders intended, help women achieve wisdom and balance in a life that was previously plagued by the disease of addiction.