Steinbach welcomes Adult & Teen Challenge

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This article was published 13/08/2021 (1372 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was nearly five months ago that Rebecca Johnson hit rock bottom.

The 29-year-old from Saskatchewan found herself beholden to addiction, consuming anything put in front of her.

“You could put gasoline in front of me and I would try and shoot it up,” she recalled.

After years of supporting her lifestyle through prostitution and drug dealing, ultimately resulting in self-harm from the depression she incurred, she felt far removed from the faith she grew up with.

She called her father, a man she had been estranged from for over six years due to her addiction, seeking a new beginning in her life. After breathing a sigh of relief knowing his daughter was ready to heal, he brought her to the Adult & Teen Challenge in Brandon, where faith and community became her saving grace.

Now, months later, she stood tall as a new location in downtown Steinbach opened its doors to welcome others with similar stories and needs for accessible addictions services.

Steinbach is the latest Manitoba location for the organization, which provides faith-based addictions counselling and programs, ranging from community outreach work to a 12-month program.

The regional office is not the only addition to Main Street. Although hidden from the public eye, located around back of the office is a Super Thrift store which takes in donations to sell with profits going directly to programming and operational costs of their facility.

“This is a huge bridge that’s being built right now for families dealing with addiction or for them to find freedom from addiction,” CEO Daniel Emond said at Saturday’s grand opening.

It’s not only a space for those looking to score a deal and support a community organization, Emond said, but a safe space for those hesitant to reach out for help.

“The people that are struggling to maybe even just have an initial encounter with us, maybe bringing them to the thrift store and introducing them to one of us and then us being able to build a relationship with those people…that’s how we’re going to reach them.”

Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, who attended Saturday’s grand opening and ribbon cutting along with Provencher MP Ted Falk and Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk, said addiction has been seen as a point of shame for residents in Steinbach, which only lifted its liquor ban in 2003.

“It doesn’t help to deny it, and it doesn’t help to try to pretend it’s not happening. So this is the right way to approach it—to be upfront with the resources in place, to have a place that can have people come in who are struggling, and to be able to do so right away,” he said.

In the Southern Health region, 4.4 percent of the population has a substance use disorder, while the provincial average is 5.9 percent, according to the health authority’s 2019-2020 annual report.

Goertzen, whose father struggled with addiction and passed away when he was a boy, said the need for accessible and visible services plays a part in destigmatizing substance use disorders. Goertzen served as the province’s minister of health from 2016 to 2018, and oversaw addictions services for the province.

“People would see addiction as a weakness or some sort of personal failing, as opposed to an illness that needs to be addressed like an illness.”

Mayor Funk said the organization will seek to take care of residents in a community-oriented way, something he brings to his own business located just a few steps away.

“We have to first take care of basics, that’s what I believe and that’s what I try and do in my little corner of the world.”

For Johnson, it was her reconnection with Christ and everyone, big and small, helping her along the way which won her the battle against her addiction.

“Getting over the substances, that was the easiest part. It was forgiving myself and understanding I’m valued, I’m loved, I’m somebody and I’m worth something,” she said.

“Life is just starting.”

This story was first published in the Aug. 12, 2021 edition of The Carillon. Become a subscriber today.