The Psalm 23 Transition Society will be shutting its doors for good this October.
The registered non-profit charity located between Clinton and 70 Mile House announced this week that they will be ceasing all operations by the end of 2024. Founder and executive director Marvin Declare said he made this difficult decision after a great deal of prayer and hard work looking into other options over the last year.
“Psalm 23 did not make the decision lightly and sought every possible avenue to avoid it,” Declare said. “Closing the ministry of Psalm 23 was not a decision made from failure, it was a way of living faithfully.”
Declare said that the decision to close Psalm 23 was in part caused by a lack of funding, as the society is no longer receiving gaming grants and some long-time donors have chosen to redirect their funds. He explained that they were looking at a $126,000 annual loss to continue to operate the society. This was on top of unsuccessfully trying to find a new director over the last 10 months.
Ultimately, Declare said that when he and the board of directors met earlier this month they decided they were not shutting the society down due to a lack of money but rather “we had discerned, with God’s help that it would be more faithful to direct those resources into different ministries.”
“When resources start to run out, the tendency is to stretch them, even to the breaking point. But redirecting passions and resources towards another God-led ministry that can use them well, is an expression of faithful stewardship,” Declare stated.
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Psalm 23 was founded by Declare in 2005 and opened their treatment centre at the 59 Mile in 2010. Its mission has been to “assist those struggling with addictions through teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” with the treatment centre primarily taking in between 10 to 20 men at a time. Over the years dozens of former addicts have graduated from the program and gone on to better their lives.
Declare said the society will be reaching out to their “current donors personally as we are still seeking out support until the end of October”. They plan to continue operating the treatment centre until August before moving their operations to the Living Sober Home in Abbotsford.
In October, the society says that “those residing in the Living Sober Home in Abbotsford will be moved out into their own apartments” and then they will be hosting their last Program Graduation Ceremony on Oct. 19 at the George Preston Arena in Langley.
Declare quoted Ecclesiastes 3, which reads: “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die” when talking about the closure of the “long-lived ministry that has been a part of helping us change so many lives.”
“As Psalm 23 moves to close by the end of 2024, those within and surrounding the ministry are called to be faithful to the Holy Spirit’s work through them, even in closing.”
As for the treatment centre property itself, Declare said the society is currently in talks with another recovery ministry to take over the facilities in August. At this time, due to ongoing legal matters, he’s not able to disclose the name of this organization.
“It was very important to everyone within Psalm 23 organization for the property to continue to be used for recovery purposes and we believe God has spoken clearly as to whom,” Declare noted, asking for the community to pray for Psalm 23 during this process.
