EHN Bellwood Toronto has found a passionate, community-focused leader in new Clinical Director Omer Vandevyvere.
If you’re looking for Omer Vandevyvere, you may want to check out the Bellwood dining room where he can often be found enjoying lunch alongside our inpatient clients.
“I always make it a point to eat lunch at least two or three days a week in the dining room with the community,” says EHN Bellwood Toronto’s new Clinical Director.
“I get to know our clients at reflections in the morning, really fostering a greater sense of community here, integrating myself within it, and leading by example for my team.”
Since joining Bellwood in January 2025, he has made it a point to immerse himself in our culture of community and recovery, seeing first-hand the treatment experiences of both civilian patients as well as military, veterans, and first responders.
We asked Omer about his passion for supporting marginalized communities and what he believes is the key to long-term recovery. Here’s what he had to say.
EHN CANADA: Can you just tell us about your role at EHN Bellwood Toronto?
OMER: There are up to around 80 people in inpatient treatment at Bellwood at any given time. My role as Clinical Director affords me the opportunity to stay connected with them.
I very much enjoy the opportunity to just open my office door and step out into the community of our clients. I get to see firsthand the lived experience of the people who are engaging in our programming. So, when we make a change to programming, I get to see in real time the impact of those changes, which is amazing. That’s a part of the role I especially enjoy!
Our patients are always looking for ways to sometimes step out of the heaviness of programming—the self-reflection, the learning, and the growth—and still just be a person and part of the community.
We try to find opportunities to create that engagement across our client community, but also our staff, and bring them together. Sometimes it’s those recreational activities that really bring people out of their shells. They allow us to enjoy each other in a different way, outside of just being in treatment. But it’s recognizing—we are in their space, where people live. This is their home.
EHN CANADA: How did your career path lead you here?
OMER: This all kind of happened organically, as my background is in social work. My first opportunity to really work with this population was in 2018 when I became the manager of a 50-bed inpatient unit specifically for veterans at Parkwood Institute in London, Ontario. That was really where I had the first opportunity to be able to serve those who have served.
Then I was tapped on the shoulder to see if I’d be interested in managing the Operational Stress Injury Clinic, a satellite clinic for St. Joseph’s London here in Toronto. I did that for about three years before coming over to EHN Canada.
EHN CANADA: What first got you interested in working in the recovery space?
Omer Vandevyvere: What a great question. I would imagine it was my first practicum when I was getting my Bachelor of Social Work. I had an opportunity to work at a community-based addiction centre in London.
That was over 20 years ago, so maybe 2004, when I began that journey. I really found a strong connection to that population, and every place that I’ve landed since has been really about serving individuals who are frequently marginalized in our communities.
That’s been my passion—social justice.
EHN CANADA: What is one thing you’ve learned in all these different facets of your career?
OMER: Mental health and addiction really are the great levellers. They happen to every family, can happen to anyone at any time, and it’s important to realize that we have more in common than not with the individuals that we serve.
I come from a humanistic approach as a social worker, recognizing that, every day, we all have choices to make. Sometimes those choices are shaped by our history of potential trauma that we may have survived.
The thread and the learning for me has been how strong and how resilient people really are, and what a privilege it is to walk beside and join with somebody and help them to realize their goals and move away from their addictions to have a greater quality of life.
I feel very fortunate to have chosen this path and to have connected with so many amazing, resilient survivors along the way!
EHN CANADA: Is there something in particular that you’re excited to achieve at Bellwood?
OMER: I fully believe that the majority of the impact we have is based on who we are as people—our personality and what we put out there. So, I try to bring as much of myself into the work as possible.
I’m a leader, and so my goal—my focus over the last decade—has really been: how do I use my skills and talents to be the most effective leader I can be? With any program that I’m connected to, my hope is to bring that enthusiasm not only to the individuals I’m working with but to the larger community as well.
I have a passion for service excellence and for understanding how we continually improve to ensure that individuals spending their time here are getting the most out of their program. That means having a passion for your work and bringing that into everything you do—really connecting.
EHN CANADA: You mentioned you worked specifically within the veteran community. What challenges do military, veterans, and first responders face?
OMER: Well, their experiences are unique. I’m always surprised by the depth of the experiences I hear about—whether through my clinicians, my team, or even directly from the clients I’ve had the opportunity to chat with when they share their stories.
We, as civilians, really can’t even wrap our heads around what it must be like to serve in the military or to be a veteran—reflecting on the impact of their tours and what they’ve been through. A program needs to be able to recognize the uniqueness of that experience and the impact it can have on their quality of life—whether that’s trauma, moral injuries, or other psychological challenges.
Having specialized programming that understands the impact their service has had on their mental health is crucial. It creates a space where they can come together and share their stories with others who’ve had similar experiences.
I’ve heard time and time again how much clients appreciate being in a space that is trauma-informed and that truly understands the effects of moral injury. It goes a long way in helping normalize their experience, helping them move forward and heal.
EHN CANADA: What does “recovery” mean to you?
OMER: Well, it’s interesting that you ask me that because I just had an alum at my door. He’s back on site doing his Aftercare, and he just shared with me, he said, “Honestly, I’ve been down this road before, and this time it feels different because I’ve created a much greater sense of community, and that’s making all the difference.”
We’re continually focusing on how we continue to grow and evolve opportunities for our alumni to stay connected. It is such a powerful experience that people have when they come here, and you see people connecting all the time. And I’m sure that many of those folks who are successful maintain those connections with other people who have been through a similar experience and who have a real, genuine focus on living their healthiest possible life. So, I think that that sense of community is huge and the therapeutic community benefits.
EHN CANADA: Why is community so essential to recovery?
OMER: Recovery doesn’t happen in isolation. If you can put into practice those tools that you just learned, that’s really the key. Here, people step out of their group room and into the community, into the hallways, and they’re having to interact with one another. They’re having to manage potential conflicts, disagreements, or simply build new relationships. The tools that we’re teaching them are then employed in the moment.
This is my first opportunity to work in a residential treatment setting, and I am continually amazed every day when I see just the benefit of people living together in a space and seeing the benefits of a therapeutic community.
STRUGGLING WITH ADDICTION, TRAUMA, OR MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER?
Find out more about treatment programs at EHN Bellwood Toronto.
