I Found HomeEdgar's Story

When I left the army, I worked for a while. It wasn’t long before I lost my job and started moving from place to place across the country. I worked odd jobs and stayed in shelters.

While the places and the jobs changed, the thread that tied my life together was alcohol. I drank, no matter where I was staying. Eventually, I walked into a liquor store and didn’t have enough money for a drink so I got a bus ticket across the border into the states. Everything was so much cheaper there, so I stayed for 10 years.

When I was sent back to Canada it was the same old story, just bouncing around. I wish I could tell you something else, but that was my life for so many years.

Then one day, a detox worker told me about the Calgary Dream Centre, and when I learned that they could help me, I wanted to know more. I went to the Dream Centre and they welcomed me into their addictions recovery program. I completed the program and found a job. It was an exciting time, but the cravings were too much. I relapsed. They put me through their program twice, but both times I relapsed.

I was stuck in a cycle of addiction, and it filled me with so much shame. But to my surprise, the Dream Centre didn’t give up on me. After my second relapse, I was drinking outside of a shopping centre and my caseworker pulled up in a car, right in front of me…she had come looking for me.

My caseworker convinced me that I should come back to the Dream Centre. When I came back, I had two black eyes, no teeth, and I hadn’t changed or washed in over a month. But no one looked down at me. The staff shook my hand, and no one made fun of me. I could tell people actually cared.

This time, I stayed at the Dream Centre for 13 months, fighting through some of the worst cravings of my life. I don’t know how I made it, but it must have been God watching out for me.

Once I was ready, my caseworker helped me find a home. I spent so many years in different institutions and on the streets—I never had a place of my own. Sometimes, I can’t sleep at night because I’m so grateful to have a home. For the first time, I have too much to lose. All my life, I’ve been starting over, but now I can’t bear to lose everything again. This winter, I have a home, and I honestly never believed that could be possible for me.

I’ve been lost my whole life, just wandering around from one place to another. But when I found the Dream Centre, I found home. I can’t express how thankful I am to the Dream Centre for their help.