“One of my best friends has struggled with alcohol addiction for about six years. He’s told me that during his most trying times, exercise helps keep him busy, so he’s not always thinking about relapsing. When I was choosing a community engagement project, I researched how exercise can help people recovering from addiction and started creating and facilitating a workout program at Our House Addiction Recovery Centre.

My profs have always said that if you treat people with respect and humility, they will typically give it right back to you. So that’s what I did. We talked about anything and everything. I brought Gatorade and protein bars and made personal duo-tangs for their workouts. They were small things, but they meant something.

And after the first workout, both guys said, “Today, you made a difference for us.” I had to sit down. My friend had once told me that people with addiction don’t think about a year from now, a month from now, a week from now or even tomorrow. It’s too overwhelming.

So when those guys told me that workout would help them get through the rest of their day, it was incredible. I can’t even begin to explain the feeling. It made me want to do better for myself and them.”

–Cole Blais, 2nd year, Correctional Services