And I couldn’t handle that. The pain was just too great.
I’d dabbled in drugs recreationally since I was 16. So I knew about drugs, and by the time my wife passed, I’d started dabbling with harder drugs. I knew for sure that they could take everything away.
They take your feelings away. They take the pain away.
The more drugs I did the less I felt the pain, but then the drugs would wear off. I’d start feeling the pain, and I’d do more drugs, and it was a vicious cycle. And after a while, I didn’t care about my job, I didn’t care about anything.
I ended up on the streets, but it was really, really bad. Life on the streets, especially in winter in Calgary, is very, very hard.
You’re just surviving from one minute to the next. There’s no safety, there’s no nothing. And it’s just the same thing tomorrow. You just have to wander around and try to stay warm, which is impossible. If you get really hungry, you go dumpster diving for food. It’s cold and a lot of people are hungry, so what do you do? You turn to drugs. It’s really hard to survive on the streets without drugs. It’s just so hard.
But my friends were dying from the drugs, and a lot of times I ended up having to save my friends.
The only way I saw out was recovery. I had no idea where I was going to go, but I just knew I didn’t want to go back to the streets.
So I ended up in Calgary Dream Centre.
It was the scariest moment of my life because I didn’t know what was going to happen. But I didn’t care because there was only one thought in my mind: to get clean.
When I came to Calgary Dream Centre, I had hope. I didn’t know how, I just knew this was my hope.
When you wake up at the Dream Centre, you don’t think, ‘How am I going to get food?’ That’s taken care of. So you can instead start your day off right like normal people do.
Then, once you’ve eaten, your health gets better. You put on more weight. And you have time to think about life. You’ll have the people to help you figure out what you’re gonna do for the rest of your life, where you’ve gone wrong, and how you can prevent that from happening again. You have a safe environment to do that, because they’ve been in the same place as you’ve been.
The Dream Centre is the best place I could have ended up. And I’ve now come to believe that God had a lot to do with that. I went from being sad and hopeless and didn’t know what I wanted to do, to gaining hope and with help I got past the sadness. I’m happy these days.
I spent 40 years doing drugs and yet I’ve changed that around. I’ve started a new life. I have no idea where I’d be or where my friends would be if it wasn’t for the Dream Centre.
Together we can remind the people of Calgary that no one is beyond hope.
Bio coming soon.
Steve Balisky is an intrapreneur with over 15 years of experience driving data-driven transformation within national companies Suncor and Mark’s. He has also been providing leadership consulting to nonprofits for the last 10 years and has served on the CDC board since 2019. Steve holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Operations Management and an MBA in Strategy. He is a husband and father of two, and has his own faith-filled recovery story, which inspires him to support others on their path to recovery.
Ben has been the Lead Pastor of First Assembly Church in Calgary since 2014, bringing over 30 years of ministry and leadership experience to the non-profit sector. He’s also an executive leadership coach, helping leaders thrive across various sectors since 2012. His experience includes serving on national and regional boards within his denomination, as well as supporting Vancouver’s homeless through his past involvement with Operation Compassion. Ben has served on the CDC board in Calgary for the past decade and believes the Church plays a vital role in creating lasting community impact.
Craig Hill has been involved with the Calgary Dream Centre (CDC) since its inception. Starting with trips to the LA Dream Centre where seeds were planted in him that were never forgotten. After years of working in business, real estate, and church ministry, Craig returned to the CDC to step in as the CEO. Craig has a deep appreciation for the life change that happens here, the incredible team, and seeing the redemptive work that God is doing. Outside of work, Craig is a family man who loves nothing more than being with his wife and kids at the lake.
David grew up in northern Canada and attended the University of Alberta where he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He worked as an engineer for about seven years before moving into project management and then business management, primarily focused in the oil and gas production and refining industry.
David stepped into the COO role of a business that was in trouble due to the 2008 financial crisis. After turning that business around, he took an international role leading project managers who managed a portfolio of $1.5B of projects around the globe.
Since then, David has consulted for businesses and organizations in medicine, engineering, homelessness, and addiction recovery, and serves on various not-for-profit boards.
David is currently running another business in California that was also in need of a dramatic turnaround and now scaling this business for further profitable growth.
Cal has spent 35 years in the agricultural industry and brings domestic and international executive leadership experience in strategy development, operations, business development, and M&A in a rapid growth environment. He is a Professional Engineer, Certified Post Merger Integration Specialist, and is a holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors Director designation (ICD.D).
Throughout his life, Cal has volunteered in his community in sport and programs that focus on relational, emotional, and spiritual health. He has served on non-profit boards in both governance and advisory capacities. Cal truly believes no one is beyond hope and counts it a privilege to serve at the Calgary Dream Centre.
Stay connected with us! Sign up to receive all our updates, including inspiring stories, important news, event invitations, and opportunities to get involved with the Calgary Dream Centre. Be the first to know how you can make a difference.
Your data is in the safe hands. Check out our Privacy policy for more info.
Bob Nash is a dedicated and service focused professional Electrical Engineer volunteering as Board Chair and Project Manager for the Calgary Dream Centre (CDC). Bob’s involvement with the CDC extends to its earliest days. His faith, and his sincere passion for helping people overcome addiction and restoring their lives, have motivated his service. Using his 35 years of senior management experience at Canadian Pacific Railway, Bob has effectively used his leadership, management, strategic planning, project management skills and philanthropic support to help propel the Calgary Dream Centre to where it is today. Bob and his wife of 44 years have two children and six grandchildren.
