Every day, things get better
Luke’s Story
Hope for Freedom is different than other treatment and recovery centres. I would know.
I’d been to fourteen of them before I found myself at Oxford House. Most were 28 days or 6 weeks – never long enough for my life to really change.
And I needed something to change.
My addiction started with a motorcycle accident when I was just 20 years old. My reliance on painkillers led to me taking harder stuff. I checked myself into my first rehab center when I was 25—over 20 years ago.
From then on, I lived in a constant cycle of detox, a short stint in a rehab centre, then back to using. I’d often pick facilities that were close to my home in Vancouver, which made it easy to start the cycle over again.
A few years ago, I got sober on my own. But at 7 months of sobriety (my longest stretch since the motorcycle accident), I got in a car accident. I tried to recover without painkillers, but like they say, even when you’re sober, your addiction is in the parking lot doing pushups. In the end, I was back on street drugs, including fentanyl. It got bad really fast.
I got into detox and tried to sign up for yet another “easy” program near Vancouver. But God had other plans. When I called to confirm my room at the new place, I accidentally called the wrong number on the list of treatment centers I’d been given. It was for Hope for Freedom. Without meaning to, I did the intake for Oxford House, which was a first stage house then, and ended up in Port Coquitlam.
I’ve now been here—and sober—for 3.5 years. At Oxford, which is now a second stage residence, I’ve worked as a Chore Monitor and now help guys get oriented to life here and help things run smoothly.
Everything about Hope for Freedom has been different.
Most of the staff have been through the program, so they know where we’re coming from.
Because there’s no rush to finish, I was given the time I needed to actually build a new life. The structured programming, like Journey to Freedom, is challenging—but has helped me heal and grow in new ways. And I’ve had a stable, long-term place where I can focus on recovering physically from my accidents.
Most importantly, Hope for Freedom takes the need for God in recovery seriously. Before coming here, I couldn’t grasp what a higher power was. I thought God was just a guy sitting on a cloud somewhere. I didn't think he’d help me. But getting to know God for real, meeting with pastors, and going to church regularly has made all the difference.
I wouldn’t say it’s easy. I’m still working on healing. But every day, things get better.