Kentwood
Kentwood Place Transitional Housing Facility is SSA’s first supportive housing unit, based in Red Deer. It provides housing for 25 individuals with severe and persistent mental illness who are working towards a more independent future. Kentwood offers subsidized affordable housing with a higher level of support for residents. This includes the provision of nutritious meals, opportunities for socialization and to learn life skills. Staff are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, ensuring tenants have access to services and supports at all times.
Kentwood Place staff screen all tenants for acceptance into the facility. Most tenants transition to Kentwood Place from in-patient psychiatry units; however, the facility will also accept tenants from within the community who are interested in working toward their recovery from mental illness. Tenants may stay at Kentwood Place for an unlimited amount of time, but are expected to be fully engaged and actively working toward their own recovery during their entire stay.
In partnership with Addiction and Mental Health Services (Alberta Health Services), Kentwood Place provides psychosocial rehabilitation programming for its tenants. Program staff engage tenants in their own recovery — Kentwood Place promotes an environment of mutual respect, self determination and hope. Using a shared decision-making process and a solutions-based recovery model, program staff encourage tenants to begin utilizing outside support services, such as peer support initiatives or self-help groups. Program staff combine Kentwood Place’s programs with other psychiatric, medical and holistic treatments to ensure each tenant receives complete care.
Through its program initiatives, Kentwood Place guides its tenants toward improved quality-of-life in every aspect: social, intellectual, spiritual and financial. Program staff work with tenants’ strengths to teach them the life skills necessary to live independently and to successfully integrate into the community. Kentwood Place has had a proven positive impact on its tenants. Tenants generally spend significantly less time in hospital and require fewer emergency room visits than before they entered the facility.
