Looking For Hope – Celestine’s Story

The role models I had to look up to growing up were living a lifestyle of drinking and partying. Due to these influences and circumstances, I began to drink at the age of thirteen.

In my teenage years, I was known as a ‘social butterfly’. Everyone wanted to party with me because I was fun to be around and lacked boundaries. As my addiction grew, I started to experience psychosis and struggled with levels of fear that I didn’t know were possible. I was constantly in survival mode as every day I felt like I was going to die. I didn’t like who I was becoming or what I was experiencing and I felt trapped in this cycle of partying, drinking, and doing drugs.

There were many times that I found myself in vulnerable situations that would lead me into moments of desperation for hope. As I would cry out to God I would pray for Him to show me a sign. Without fail, every time in moments of desperation I would be met by divine encounters where a person would either say or give me exactly what I needed. This showed me that God was always with me, even in the darkest times of my life.

I had two daughters when I was experiencing a pivotal moment in my addiction. There was a moment when I was faced with extreme seizures from drug use and neglect of food and water. I felt as though the inside of my body was twisting and turning all around. I really thought that I was going to die. During my addiction, I had many near-death experiences but this time, I felt as though I was face to-face with death.

This thought of not being the mother I knew my children deserved began to run through my mind. After the seizures stopped something clicked in my mind, and I knew that this was a turning point. For the first time, I felt this fight rise up in me so that I could be free from addiction because of my daughters.

I knew that I needed to go into detox so I started preparing myself for real-life change by getting my heart, spirit, and body ready. After completing detox I applied to the Calgary Dream Centre’s (CDC) community housing and shortly after applying, I was moving in. When I was homeless, every day was always a question of where I was going to sleep, what I was going to eat, or if I was going to be safe. I now live in the CDC’s Women’s Housing and I finally have a sense of relief. The CDC gave me peace in exchange of fear, hope in exchange of anxiety, and faith in exchange of depression.

Today I am proud to say that I’m working stronger than ever on my recovery. I am currently upgrading my studies to pursue social work so I can one day help people like myself. I am also pursuing parenting courses and prioritizing spending time with my daughters so I can work toward being the best mother that I can be.

I have come from feeling broken and hopeless, I believe that you too can find freedom from addiction. I know my story is not finished, so I don’t discount the process because the process is what shapes us to be who we are today. There truly is power in the process!

We can’t do it without you.

Together we can remind the people of Calgary that no one is beyond hope.

Werner Haag

Bio coming soon.

Steven Balisky

Bio coming soon.

Ben Johnson

Ben is the Lead Pastor at FA. Ben and His wife Heather have served together in Pastoral and Apostolic ministry for over 20 years.

They share a deep spiritual burden for our nation of Canada – specifically for the unchurched and the next generation. They long to see a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our time, and they believe that some of the most exciting days for the Canadian church are ahead.

Together with their four daughters, they count it an incredible honour to be able to serve Jesus and serve the City of Calgary.

Craig Hill

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 Taylor

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 Johnson

Cal has been a member of the Calgary Dream Centre Board of Directors since March 2022.  Cal and his wife Kerry have been supporters of the Dream Centre for a number of years.

Cal is a Business Advisor with a focus on Coaching and Leadership Development.  He has spent his career in the Agriculture Equipment Industry and was a John Deere Equipment Dealer for 19 years.  He is a Professional Engineer and holds an ICD.D designation with the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Cal and Kerry have been married 34 years and have 3 adult sons.  They volunteer in marriage ministry at Centre Street Church and enjoy spending time cycling, boating, skiing, and travelling. 

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Bob Nash

Retired General Manager It Operations and Signals and Communications for Canadian Pacific  Railway after 34 years of service. Currently the Board Chairman and Project Manager for the Calgary Dream Centre, a position held for the past 18 years.