Walking with Kevin on the road to recovery

Kevin’s life is in transition. For the past 4 months, he has been drug and alcohol free after battling addiction for many years. And now Kevin’s recovery journey is also in transition.

At The Ottawa Mission, the addiction and trauma team try to meet people where they are in their journey. Some are still actively using drugs and alcohol and are contemplating treatment and looking for information about what options are available to them. Some men have been in recovery and have relapsed and need help getting back on track. Others are in recovery and are working very hard to overcome the triggers that might cause a relapse.

Kevin’s addiction cost him his family, his job and he says he was almost out of hope too. He came to The Mission’s Day Program first, which is for men who may still be using drugs and alcohol, but want to stop. When he made the decision to stop using, he transitioned to our Stabilization program. The 13 beds in Stabilization are for men who want to pursue treatment and need a few weeks to determine what treatment options they can access. Sometimes there is a waiting list to get into a program and The Mission helps support men in recovery until a spot opens up for them.

Kevin was eventually able to move from Stabilization to The Mission’s LifeHouse program – a five month residential addiction treatment program. Now, two weeks into LifeHouse, he’s amazed at the progress he’s made since he first came to The Mission, and the support he’s getting from staff as well as other men in the program.  “There is always someone at The Mission I can talk to when I’m sorting things out,” he says. “That has helped change the way I look at my addiction and my life – I have hope and I’m very grateful for that.”