A current Participant’s Journey to Freedom

My name is Greg and my journey began by being abandoned as an infant 52 years ago. I grew up in a world without knowing what it’s like to have healthy parents. The home I had was very dysfunctional. My parents were full fledged alcoholics. I didn’t know about Christmas, birthdays or picnics. I never felt love, joy or peace. I had to figure out how to take care of myself and I didn’t know how to be a young boy. I had my first drink of alcohol when I was about 11 or 12 years of age and I liked what it did to me. It helped me to forget my young, lost life.

I ended up spending a lot of time with the “67 Gang Kids”. Sniffing gas, glue, thinners, anything that was vapour harmful. We shop-lifted… For food, sniffs, clothes etc… It didn’t matter. And, of course, we took our parent’s booze and cash. Nobody liked us because of who we were. Other community kids fought with us but we always won. For us, it was always about surviving the abandonment, hunger, sleep, violence, abuse and broken promises.

By the age of 15, I became a lone wolf on the streets of Edmonton. I ended up running with a vicious street gang where the code was “respect, honour, loyalty and fierce survival”. We ran drugs, weapons and prostitutes and were feared by all who walked our turf. I soon ended up in a correctional centre and for the next 25 years or so all I knew were penitentiaries, mental institutions, special handling units, psychiatric centres for the criminally insane, gangs and of course homelessness.

In solitary confinement I was given a Bible. At first I was afraid of it but then I started to read it whenever I could. I will always remember Genesis. I felt the presence of God with me and I got on my knees and prayed. Then I started visiting the chaplain and asking him about what I’d been reading. As my years of imprisonment went on I read several books written by others who cried out to the Lord. I knew that He was the Way and that I needed Him in my life.

Today I am a soldier for God and, because He loves me, I have finally found real peace, forgiveness and love. It has been a long struggle but, with the strength of the Lord and the support from Rising Above, I can now smile and be who I always wanted to be. Free from alcoholism, homelessness, rage, gangs, institutions and loneliness. You have your story, we all do, and I am ok with sharing mine with you.

God bless, and perhaps one day we will meet either here on earth or in our Father’s Kingdom.

Love in Jesus Christ our Lord, Greg

Kari is preparing to graduate from the program this summer. This is her story:

My name is Kari, I have survived a life of self-inflicted alcohol abuse. I drank to get drunk. The excuses and reasons ran out a long time ago. I wanted to drink. I drank away my family, my friends and a few loves along the way. I drank myself into a life of isolation, of pure despair, a life of no hope, no light at the end of the tunnel. My life was lonely. In that loneliness I had a constant prayer: “Please God help me through this. I promise never to do it again, Please God help me…”

He did.

He didn’t help me in the way I thought it should be done, He did it His way. It took a crisis to get me into Rising Above. I packed my life into 5 boxes and entered this program. Little did I know the changes that were to come in my life. I took advantage of the many programs here, I took a risk and I trusted the people involved. There were a lot of growing pains and I am sure there are more to come. But one thing is for sure: I’m not alone anymore!

I get little gifts each day; little bursts of joy that at first were quite foreign to me. These bursts of joy are better than any drink I ever drank. I have found my way home. I have discovered how special we all are, that God is answering our prayers, He is just waiting for us to say “please God, help me…”

This is what Peter, a participant who is preparing to graduate from our program in June, 2010 has to say about his time with Rising Above:

“My name is Peter and I am in the Rising Above program. Rising Above has offered me a new outlook on life. It offers life skills that can help with addictions, and those on the verge of becoming homeless. It offers those who are looking for a new start in life the tools for the road to recovery. If you are in need of help on these areas of life, then Rising Above is the place to start!”