Pubdate: Thu, 29 Oct 2015
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Authors: Carolyn Thompson & Dan Janisse
Page: A3

ADDICTIONS PROGRAM FIGHTS FOR ITS LIFE

Two-hour sessions sitting at a desk didn't help Katlyn Mishibinijima 
stop using marijuana.

The 21-year-old would leave the rehabilitation course tired, 
uninspired and no closer to breaking her bond with the drug.

"You have people reading you out what's in a textbook, but that's not 
really what you're going through. And they don't get to hear your 
stories in those programs," Mishibinijima said.

Windsor youth struggling with drug or alcohol addictions decided that 
traditional programs weren't working for them - so they came up with their own.

A year later, the Windsor Youth Centre is fighting to keep the Up2U 
program afloat after its one-year funding ended.

"It's not like a rehab, where they talk about their feelings all the 
time and sit in a circle," said Jennie Bates, who was addicted to 
opiates like Percocet and Oxycodone before getting hooked on cocaine 
and crack. The 23-year-old mother stopped using when she got 
pregnant, but she said she still worries about triggers every day.

At the Up2U program people like Bates and Mishibinijima take part in 
activities such as writing and drawing, they share stories of 
addiction and temptations, and they focus on their futures.

Bates said it was an eye-opener when staff asked her where she saw 
herself in 10 years.

"I didn't picture myself anywhere else besides still being on 
welfare," she said. "Now I do. I can go to school. I can do things."

She's gearing up to start college in January, studying to be a 
personal support worker at St. Clair.

The program offers youth the chance to do group-focused activities 
and personal ones, such as writing their fears and dreams on balloons 
that they let go and watch float up to the sky. It's not meant to be 
strict or regimented, so youth can leave for a cigarette break or 
listen to music if they're not in the mood to take part in some of 
the activities.

The idea was for youth to have support from each other in a place 
without access to drugs, and to focus on their hopes and dreams, not 
on their past mistakes, said Bates, who has been part of Up2U since 
its first meeting a year ago.

So far, the program has been working. The 10 original participants - 
some of whom were homeless - all have housing and many are starting 
school or working.

The drop-in program has no waiting list and is structured to help 
youth make positive choices and changes. It's impossible to fail out. 
"You're not being pressured, like 'If I don't do this I'm going to be 
a failure,'" Bates said. "They accept that you make mistakes."

That's crucial, said Rachel Chrysler, 23. She has been struggling 
with alcohol abuse for years, along with addiction to prescription 
drugs and occasional use of cocaine.

"No matter what, even if you feel in your life that you failed, that

you're failing yourself at that moment, if you come they still accept 
you, they'll still let you in," Chrysler said. "It's a place you can 
just be open, just talk about it. Even if you relapsed, you can come 
talk about it if you want to."

The Up2U program isn't trying to replace other drug prevention 
options in the city, said Tamara Kowalska, executive director of the 
Windsor Youth Centre. Rather, it offers another option that can 
provide youth with an immediate support while they wait to get into 
rehabilitation program.

Kowalska said the program will continue to run - with or without 
funding - as long as the centre can afford it. But its $17,000 grant 
from the Laidlaw Foundation had covered expenses such as food at the 
program, transit costs for participants, fees to help them apply to 
college and small rewards for goals met.

Mishibinijima says the non-traditional approach has helped her.

"I feel better when I walk out. I'm smiling," she said. Her marijuana 
use has decreased, and she's making plans for her future. "There's 
not a lot of people that really understand and go through that," she 
said. At Up2U, they're there for each other. "You're hearing other 
people's stories to help you overcome what you're going through."

For more information, contact the Windsor Youth Centre at 519563-9271.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom