Odo Nkum is executive director of Talitha Koum.
On a sunny Thursday afternoon this past August, a group comprising Protestant and Catholic volunteers, addiction-recovery professionals, civic politicians, recovering addicts, representatives of a family-run philanthropic fund and a Catholic priest crowded into the living room of a modest home in suburban Vancouver to celebrate what one participant called “a little miracle.”
They came together in Coquitlam to mark the opening of Hope House, operated by the Christian-faith-based Talitha Koum Society, which provides addiction-recovery services to women and their young children.
“This was only a dream last year,” said the society’s executive director, Odo Nkum. “But then everything came together.”
Nkum said in an interview the society first received a commitment for operational funding from the Bitelli Family Foundation, which is a philanthropic vehicle for a North Vancouver Catholic family, and then a commitment for further funding, to support house-rental costs, from CA Church of Coquitlam, a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination.
Later, when Talitha Koum finally found a landlord willing to rent to it, a team of volunteers emerged from the St. Vincent de Paul Society at All Saints Parish, in Coquitlam, to assist with last-minute deep cleaning and painting.
Above and beyond all this, Talitha Koum, a registered charity, received several grants in 2026 from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver’s new Living Waters Fund, which assisted in the society’s overall operation.
“Around TK, we always say that God will provide,” Nkum said. “And He certainly did this time. You could call Hope House just another little miracle in the life of Talitha Koum.”
Father Larry Lynn blessed Hope House at the opening celebration.
Hope House is Talitha Koum’s fourth facility and its second “bridging home,” providing low-cost accommodation and ongoing support for program graduates with young children. Its first bridging home, Redemption House, for single women, was initially supported by Redemption Church of Vancouver.
The society also operates two ‘program’ homes for women enrolled in its spiritually rich 12-step recovery program: Starr House, named for TK’s late founder, Starr Peardon, and Gianna House, named for the patron saint of mothers. Starr House is owned by a provincial government agency, BC Housing, and Gianna is co-owned by TK and the City of Coquitlam.
Inspired by Jesus’s words – “Talitha koum,” meaning “Little girl, I say to you, arise,” (Mark 5:41) – the charity is rooted in Christian values, and maintains an approach to addiction recovery best summed up by its commitment to “love its clients back to living.”
Founded 27 years ago by Peardon, a convicted drug dealer who found God, found sobriety and converted to Catholicism, and bankrolled by a then-secret $10,000 donation from a Catholic priest, Talitha Koum’s approach to addiction recovery mirrors modern Christian insights into addiction recovery.
Vancouver emergency-room physician and author Quentin Genuis, who attends a Mennonite Brethren church, wrote in his 2025 book Recovering People: Addiction, Personhood and the Life of the Church that addiction is neither simply a moral failure nor a disease.
Rather, Genuis wrote, it’s a whole-person malady in which recovery can best be sustained with a return to physical, moral, spiritual order that particularly rich 12-step recovery programs can offer.
Speaking at the gathering marking the opening of Hope House, Nicole Bitelli said her family’s charitable foundation decided to support both Hope and Redemption houses not only because of the family’s personal experience with addiction and recovery but also because of Talitha Koum’s Christian foundation.
“We are so overjoyed to see this come to life,” Bitelli said. “It is so meaningful to be part of this project, so filled with God’s grace, that is helping women to transform their lives. We hope that our example encourages others to do the same.”
Father Larry Lynn, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Coquitlam and former Talitha Koum board member, blessed the house at the opening celebration.
Erin was one of Hope House’s first residents.
Also attending the celebration was one of Hope House’s first residents, Erin, a 34 year old mother of a four year old daughter. She said in an interview that Talitha Koum’s spiritually rich 12-step program was key to her recovery.
She said that completing step 5, which involves admitting to another person all the wrongs that one has done in one’s life, was transformative.
“All of a sudden a light bulb went off in my head and that is when I said to myself, ‘I trust God.’ I finally really trusted Him as much as I could,” Erin said.
She said she is thankful for the ongoing, family-like support she continues to receive, even after completion of the 12 steps.
“I feel like I fell through the cracks and was caught by TK,” she said. “. . . It just blows my mind that I am here and I’m connected to women, I have a job that I love [mentoring and supporting TK clients], I have my daughter with me. I’m kind of speechless at how great TK is.”
Terry O’Neill, an award-winning journalist and retired Coquitlam Councillor, now serves on the board of the Talitha Koum Society.
Talitha Koum will be holding its ‘Journey of Hope’ Fundraising Gala at St. Clare of Assisi Hall October 3.