Faith&Friends
SOMEONE CARES
When Addiction Takes Over The Salvation Army helped Greg take back his life from drug use and violence.
A
by Linda Leigh
t an early age, Greg’s rage was explosive. A child unable to cope with his emotions, he turned to drugs. But after 20 years of drug abuse and criminal activity, he successfully beat his addiction with the help of The Salvation Army. A Life Behind Bars “There was a lot of anger at home and that hurt,” says Greg, 37. “I had emotions I didn’t know how to deal with, and I was fiery and impulsive.” Greg’s drug use began at 13. “My addiction started based on peer pressure,” he says. “Then it helped me deal with the negativity at home. I thought, If marijuana couldn’t make me feel better, what else could?”
As Greg’s drug use escalated, so did his criminal activity. “Robbery, violent crimes … I hurt a lot of people,” he says. “I spent half of my life in prison.” A Second Chance When Greg was tired of his lifestyle and burnt out, he turned to The Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope in Calgary for help. There, a live-in recovery program for adult men offers treatment that includes individual and group counselling, life-skills training and after-care support so that individuals not only live substance-free but thrive. “The Salvation Army helped me get healthy and changed the direction of my life,” says Greg. “I completed the drug-treatment program, I’m clean, and I’m working and rebuilding broken relationships. I look at The Salvation Army as a blessing and a gift. They gave me a second chance at life. Without them, I wouldn’t be alive today.” Band of Brothers “The Army changed my life,” says Greg (right), here with Mike Forsey, then the community services’ assistant executive director
faithandfriends.ca I APRIL 2021
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