Odyssey House NSW, alongside its funding and construction partners, is turning the first soil for the construction of their new centre of excellence in the treatment for parents and their children impacted by substance use.

The new centre will allow Odyssey House NSW to double the intake of families enrolled in the Parent’s and Children’s Program, which has helped parents to break the cycle of generational drug and alcohol dependence for over 45 years. The program also supports skill development and assists in establishing safe and healthy family homes.

In Australia, almost 743,0001 children (15.8%) aged 0-14 are raised by parents who drank alcohol at risky levels and 681,5002 children (14.5%) aged 0-14 are raised by parents who used an illicit drug within the last 12 months. There is an unmet need for residential treatment across the country, with just a handful of long-term specialised residential services on offer.

The Odyssey Parent’s and Children’s Program allows couples and individual parents to receive treatment while maintaining the care of their child.

The Parent’s and Children’s Program is one part of Odyssey’s Reconnecting Families suite of services, which supports families in both the community and residential rehabilitation settings. In 2020-21 Odyssey provided services to 183 parents through their Reconnecting Families programs. Odyssey House NSW hopes the new centre will be a significant step in addressing demand.

“What we are doing is investing in human capital,” says Julie Babineau, CEO of Odyssey House NSW. “This new facility will support families to stay together so that treatment doesn’t cause family separation and create further challenges.”

The new Family Recovery Centre is being built on the site of the former program cottages in Eagle Vale. The modern design will help children and families to apply what they’ve learnt from treatment.

The Family Recovery Centre is a significant development for the not-for-profit, set to cost around $4.8 million for the construction. It has so far received public funding from the State government, Federal government, and a private donation from The Wiggs Foundation. There is still a need to raise a further $1 million to complete the construction of the project and cover additional operational costs.

“With our Parent’s and Children’s Program, what we are able to do is give the children their parents back.” says Julie Babineau.

Odyssey are working with APP Corporation Pty Ltd, TCQ Construction and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects on this very special project. If you would like to know more, please visit www.odysseyhouse.com.au/make-a-difference/building-big-dreams