Pubdate: Fri, 23 Apr 2004
Source: Maple Ridge Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc
Contact:  http://www.mrtimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1372
Author: Tom Barnes

EX-ADDICTS HELPING ADDICTS

Most "good news" stories about drug addicts tend to end in triumph.
Somewhere near the end of the story the addict breaks free from whatever
mind-altering chemical has been holding their head under water; letting them
up only as long as it takes to make them think they really don't have a
problem before plunging them under again.

Most "good news" stories, if they're really good news stories, end with the
addict exiting the doors of a treatment facility and leaving the pain of
addiction behind - bursting into the sunshine with a whole new life ahead,
full of promise and hope.

This story, however, is different.

It begins with two addicts who in fact did burst from the treatment doors
into the sunshine and into a new life, only to turn right around and head
back inside a few months later.

Not only did they end up back at the treatment centre, both say they
couldn't wait come back inside.

This time though, they brought back some of that light they found to share
with others still trying to find their way.

On Wednesday morning in the boardroom of the highly-regarded Maple Ridge
Treatment Centre, former addicts Roland and Anton (last names withheld) sat
comfortably in large red chairs - Roland a spitting image of local
sportscaster Squire Barnes and Anton who looks like he'd be comfortable in a
Gap commercial.

They were there to talk about their lives and what led them to those
painful, foggy years of addiction.

But more importantly, they were there to talk about how they turned their
lives around and what they're doing to help other men who now find
themselves digging their way out from the black hole.

The pair are former clients of MRTC and members of a seven-member strong
volunteer team of former addicts who have chosen to return give back to the
facility both say saved their lives - lives that for a time had little to
live for.

Roland, 36, was born in Germany and adopted by a Canadian couple that
brought him back to live in Vancouver.

He says when his new parents discovered they were able to adopt a little
girl instead they traded him in, leaving him to spend his teens bouncing
from group home to group home.

When he turned 18 Roland headed to Toronto and took a job at a racetrack.

It wasn't long, though, the prospect of a new job in Vancouver lured him
back west.

That job, though, fell through and at the same time, he says, the bottom
fell out of his life.

"I ended up living on the street in a dumpster . . . not a good life,"
Roland remembers.

Things started looking up though when a friend found him and took him in.

Roland stabilized for a while until someone else offered him something new
he'd never tried before - crack cocaine.

"After that I became an uncontrollable drug person," he admits, explaining
he turned to lying and stealing to feed his habit.

It wasn't until once again Roland's friend Ron found him after a hard night
of doing smoking crack that he finally sought help, entered detox and was
finally referred to MRTC - recognized throughout the Lower Mainland as one
of the best treatment centres for men suffering with addictions.

"It's was one night I had lost my shoes and socks that...I hit rock bottom."

Like Roland, Anton shares a similar story that details the rapid decline of
heroin addiction.

"I've struggled for years with my drug addiction, the 32-year-old father of
two girls said, confirming that it wasn't until he was at his worst he
started seeking help.

The volunteer program at MRTC began last November after Amy Williams, the
centre's volunteer and marketing director picked up another former client
hitchhiking along the Haney Bypass on his way to volunteer elsewhere. For
some time, Williams had been playing with the idea of trying to bring back
graduates of the five-week program to help other men in the 60-bed facility
with the immense challenge of getting and staying clean.

Time and budget restraints, however, left little time to coordinate a
volunteer program and Williams says she was only able to work on the setting
up the endevour "from the side of my desk."

"We have a limit of what we can and can't do with the money we have,"
Williams said. "(The volunteers) make all the difference in the world."

But following the chance encounter she realized that she had all the
resources she had after interest from former clients began pouring in.

As the program took shape, Williams said she was overwhelmed with the
dedication the volunteers showed.

A community garden was planted on the MRTC grounds, and plans to raise money
and seek donations to built a library for clients is now in the works.

"Up until now we just had Reader's Digest," says Williams.

But where the Volunteers are showing to be their their greatest asset,
explains Williams, is by being helping the other men currently undergoing
treatment - especially the ones who have just arrived.

"They mingle with the clients to help them feel more comfortable," she says
adding new clients are often nervous and the volunteers help in displacing
the "jitters" that come with the strange environment.

"Like I used to have," Roland cuts in. "They all want to hear my story."

For Anton, who has been clean for around four months, returning regularly to
MRTC to volunteer isn't only gratifying but he says it helps him to stay
focused as his life takes off in the right direction.

He's now going to job interviews and plans to enroll in Douglas College's
Community Social Services program with hopes of one day working to help
addicts trying to get clean.

"It keeps me connected (and) reminds me of where I came from, he says.

Dealing with addiction is a life-long struggle for both Anton and Roland.

"The easy part is being here (while in treatment) the hard part is after and
dealing with life's situations. Drugs are just a small part of what's going
on with me," he says.

Adds Roland: "I thought I could always solve my problems with drugs...but
this place saved my life."

Today, (Friday) Roland will celebrate his one-year anniversary of sobriety.
He will be honoured at MRTC with a cake which is fitting in a way because
not only has he been clean for a year but the anniversary also marks the
start of a new life, he says, he never had - much like a birthday.

"People tell me I'm going through my childhood now because I never had one." 
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MAP posted-by: Josh