This week I had the chance to visit Village of Hope – Eston, a faith-based residential regeneration program dedicated to helping men and women overcome drug and alcohol addiction. The 10-month program is designed to regenerate students by establishing good work ethic, learning employment skills, experiencing inner healing, and rebuilding broken family relationships.
I had the opportunity to chat with former student, now senior leader, Dan Cole. Cole currently runs the Village of Hope Bakery and Café, which officially opened this past December. The Bakery offers a space for students to gain work experience while providing the community of Eston with freshly baked breads, buns and pastries.
Cole discussed the challenges he faced prior to becoming a graduate of the program. He highlighted how there is much pain in the world and how it’s important for each of us to do the inner work. Village of Hope – Eston, offers a space to do so. As with most social assistance programs, he believes that addiction isn’t the problem, it’s the pain in the person that needs to be addressed. “While we can’t erase a person’s traumatic memories, we can help rid the pain associated with it” he explains. Cole continued, “in school we learn math and science, but we don’t learn how to deal with inner conflict and how to be in healthy relationships.” The leadership team at Village of Hope – Eston works to understand the ‘why’ of the addiction and focuses on the heart of each student.
Like the Village of Hope ethos, renowned addiction expert, Dr. Gabor Maté calls for a compassionate approach toward addiction. He affirms that all addictions originate in the early childhood environment through trauma and emotional loss. In an interview he says, “Reason and education can’t compete with deep-seated emotional and psychological drives”. His mandate is to continuously practice compassionate curiosity with individuals struggling with addiction.
According to a recent study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, about 14 per cent of Saskatchewan residents have an addiction to drugs or alcohol – the highest per-capita rate of drug and alcohol addiction in the country. A sad and concerning statistic to grapple with as more families are being touched by substance addiction.
Police in both Regina and Saskatoon have echoed the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundations (SHRF) concern in the rise of drug use across the province. In an interview with the SHRF, Sergeant Robin Wintermute of the Saskatoon Police Drug Unit emphasized the importance of focusing on an individual’s needs. He says, “we need to continue building community partnerships and get to the root of the problem”.
Village of Hope – Eston is one of those community partnerships. Offering a lantern for those in the dark.
Struggling with addiction? Ready for a change?
villageofhopeeston.ca
306.962.3000
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