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From hope to healing from addiction

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This article was published 29/05/2024 (505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Daniel Emond was in his first year of university when he fell into the grips of addiction. He’d been studying to become a doctor, though his path changed with his father’s diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

“I was socially involved with drinking and smoking pot, but knowing my father was dying and having no concept of what happens when you die affected me,” Emond says.

That’s when he tried cocaine for the first time. Six months later, he’d dropped out of university and spent all his savings on the drug.

Emond went through addiction treatment, but relapsed. Then, he began shoplifting to feed his habit.

Emond was arrested and sent to jail. He entered another addiction treatment program, earned his carpentry certificate, and found a job building houses, before relapsing again.

“It was right back to the same cycle,” Emond says. “There was a hole inside of me that I could not fill. I would always go back to drugs or alcohol to try to fill it in.”

After a drug deal gone wrong, Emond contemplated his revenge and considered taking his own life. He stopped by his mother’s house to say goodbye, but she wouldn’t let him in and took him to a coffee shop instead. His mother cried as Emond told her he’d given up on himself.

It was then that Emond’s former cellmate happened to walk through the door. His cellmate told him he’d been sober for three years after getting help from Adult and Teen Challenge. Emond, who was not a religious person at that point in his life, says he heard the voice of God.

“He said, ‘See Daniel, I am real, and you’re not going to do what you’re going to do,’” Emond says.

He joined Adult and Teen Challenge’s long-term program in the coming months, attending leadership training once he graduated. He served under the founder of the program for 15 years, eventually becoming CEO—and dedicating his life to helping those who struggle with addiction, as he once did.

With a staff of 165 and 22 buildings throughout the province, Adult and Teen Challenge has come a long way from its origins in Hadashville, Man. The organization, which started in 1994, now offers long-term recovery homes, as well as outreach programming. Outreach, Emond explains, includes crisis counselling, interventions, recovery coaching, and support groups.

Though Adult and Teen Challenge is faith-based, it’s open to all. It’s also accessible regardless of financial circumstances.

The long-term program requires a nominal admission fee, though costs are determined on a case-by-case basis. The organization relies on donations to keep costs down.

“We don’t want money to be a barrier for anyone to get the help that they need,” says Emond.

The organization also operates SuperThrift stores to fund its mission. Perhaps even more impactful is that half of the organization’s employees—including those at its thrift stores—have been through its programs.

“A lot of our success and effectiveness is rooted in the fact that our people know what they’re talking about,” Emond says, adding that clinical counsellors and medical doctors are part of the organization’s care team.

Its thrift stores are considered vocational training centres, alongside its vocational shops where participants can become Red Seal apprentices. It’s part of the full continuum of care that Adult and Teen Challenge offers, from long- and short-term care to transitional housing—which will all eventually be housed under one roof—to getting back into the community and finding sustainable employment.

It’s this structure, and the caring, family-like atmosphere, that have helped free participants from their addictions, Emond explains.

“The difference was that they cared about my whole being, not just one part,” says Emond, of why he found success with Adult and Teen Challenge and not the other programs he tried.

“I want people to know that the work we’re doing is worthy of their support,” says Emond, “and we need more support than ever because addiction is not going away. People are dying because of it, and I was one of those people 18 years ago. That’s why I am so passionate about this mission, because I know it saves lives year after year.”

For more on Adult and Teen Challenge, visit www.teenchallenge.tc.