'This is our community; we are cleaning it together': Addiction recovery home helps clean Windsor's west end
One local addiction recovery home is stepping up and giving back to the community, cleaning up the west end while combatting addiction.
“I’ve been battling with drug addiction pretty much my entire life,” said 35-year-old Bradley Currie.
Currie is one of 44 men in recovery at the Hand in Hand Support home.
“While being here I started to believe in myself. I started to see things, I’ve never seen in myself,” said Currie.
Hand in Hand Support is a non-profit sober living facility helping people with addiction-recovery.
“We want to help these individuals get into recovery because everyone deserves a second chance,” said Liz Geddes, board president of Hand in Hand Support.
“We are offering this as a way to gap that need so for someone who is going into treatment. They can stay here until they are ready to go into treatment or they can do their whole treatment with us."
After a 10-year battle with drugs and alcohol, Currie found the help he needed at Hand in Hand.
“I ended up graduating here and we decided to integrate a new phase which is a working program,” said Currie. “So it gives me a chance to have opportunity in my life, coming from where I was before, it was very hard for me to see the opportunity.”
Local food delivery service Jubzi teamed up with the non-profit organization to clean up Windsor's west-end streets Saturday.
“There’s a portion of the community that feels individuals that suffer addiction should fend for themselves, they’re a burden in our community,” said Jubzi CEO Thanos Zikantas. “These individuals appreciate the support they are getting and they are giving back. This is our community, we are cleaning it together.”
Giving back throughout the recovery proccess helps residents work towards reconciliation, according to Hand in Hand.
“When someone is in recovery they have to be accountable and be able to go out there and give back,” said Geddes. “Going out and feeling good about themselves, going out and doing the cleanup, it gives them self-worth. That they are worth it and recovery is worth it.”
For Currie, he now feels free and is grateful for his second chance at life.
“The only way, I find, to open my heart is to reach out and to give back to the community, to people, to Mother Earth we live on," said Currie.
"There is a certain gratitude that’s comes from giving back that puts you in a good, healthy state of mind."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Miss Teen USA steps down just days after Miss USA's resignation
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.
NEW How Canadians can watch the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest
Europe’s top pop stars are out and about for the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place in Malmo, Sweden.
Pearson gold heist suspect arrested after flying into Toronto from India
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Debate on abortion rights erupts on Parliament Hill, Poilievre vows he won't legislate
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.