Vital Society

Valley Integration to Active Living Society (V.I.T.A.L. Society) is a not-for-profit organization based on a model designed between 1989 and 1991. This model provided support to dual-diagnosis clients with challenging behaviors who had experienced difficulty living in their communities. Some of our residents experienced difficulty with legal/correctional systems. Their dual-diagnosis resulted in attempted treatment in a variety of settings that had produced little effect. Service providers with conventional service models were unwilling to continue to support them, resulting in residents spending most of their time in institutions such as Glendale Lodge and Riverview Hospital. With the closure of institutions, there was a need for alternate care models to provide a stable community-placement for these individuals. The model was designed on the aspects of institutional care that was most effective, modifying it to work in a community setting.The Ministry of Social Services and Housing, with some hesitation, accepted the idea of trying the model on an experimental basis.