John’s Story

When you’re living on the streets at the age of 14, life is about survival. Kicked out of his mother’s place in Alberta, and then his father’s place in Vancouver, John’s support system became his friends on the street, and most of those friends were involved in gangs.

“When you’re on the streets, you do what you gotta do to survive.I learned how to do crime and along with crime, comes drugs and alcohol.”

John lived in this world of crime and drugs for many years and wears the scars of his experiences and lifestyle. “Living on the streets taught me to put me first. It made me cold towards others and the effects that my attitude and actions had on them. I did some pretty horrible things.”

Seeing some of his ‘friends’ incarcerated, and others killed, John finally made the decision to get out of street life and to get clean.His journey to recovery has spanned several years and includes some setbacks along the way, but John continues to move forward toward healthy and hopeful living.

“The OASIS recovery program has been life-changing for me.”Looking back over the carnage of his life, John has recognized the pain and destruction that he brought into his children’s lives and is working hard towards restoring these broken relationships.“I used to ask ‘why is the world like this’ and ‘why is God doing this to me?’. I have learned that I need to own my past and I now have the tools to work through it.”

John recently graduated from the OASIS recovery program and he and his son, who was also in the program, have moved into housing together.His daughter, who began visiting him while he was in recovery, saw the incredible change in him and has also chosen to live with John part-time.

Restoration is taking place and John’s broken family is being put back together piece by piece. Recovery is possible!