YOUR KINDNESS

HAS TAKEN LAMBROS HOME

On September 2, 2015, Lambros moved into his own home – a small, clean, centrally located apartment. That may seem like a pretty routine part of life for most people, but for Lambros, it marked an extraordinary milestone in his journey at The Ottawa Mission.

Lambros has suffered from mental illness most of his life. He struggled as a teenager, and became, in his words “the black sheep of the family”, doing drugs and getting into trouble with the law. He has spent most of his adult life in and out of the shelter system in Ottawa, including quite a bit of time at The Mission.

When Lambros turned 55 – two years ago – he woke up one morning in the shelter and came to the realization that if he didn’t do something positive with his life he probably wouldn’t survive much longer. He started attending our Day Program – a daily drop in session for people suffering from addiction – and he hasn’t looked back since.

He moved on to our Stabilization unit where he prepared, for the first time in his life, for long term addiction treatment. From there he entered LifeHouse, our 5 month residential program. Lambros worked very hard in the program, and is proud to say that he has now been sober for almost two years!

Lambros is so thankful for all of the great resources that are available to him at The Mission. As he says, “There is no one you can’t talk to here if you need help. From the front line staff, to the counsellors, to the housing support people – everyone has been so important in my journey. What I’ve really received from The Mission is the gift of my life.”

Lambros remains very focused on his long term recovery – he still attends Day Program every day without fail, eats some of his meals in our dining room, and has access through our clinic to the medical attention he needs to manage his mental illness. Thanks to your support, Lambros is alive and well and
grateful for every day.