A testimonial by Louis-Alexandre, a resident at Portage’s program for Mentally Ill Chemical Abusers (MICA)

May 6, 2010

Louis-Alexandre began his drug addiction rehabilitation program at Portage in March 2009. He is presently in Stage 5 of the process and is living in one of the MICA program’s supervised apartments.

At the MICA (Mentally Ill Chemical Abusers) program’s open house on May 6th, Louis-Alexandre and his father delivered touching testimonials about their Portage experience in front of about fifty representatives from hospitals and centres that work with mental health issues.

“Before I came to Portage, I was destroying myself. I was hurting my family and my friends. All I cared about was my next fix. My parents helped me realise that I had a choice to make: either get help or spend my life in the streets… or in the hospital. It only took me a couple of minutes to make my decision – but it seemed like so much longer than that. What would life be like if I decided to go to a drug addiction rehabilitation centre? What would it be like if I didn’t? Waking up every morning, I would say to myself: ‘Today, I will not use drugs,’ and every night going to bed I would say: ‘I made it, I didn’t use drugs all day’. Portage was an awakening for me. Finally, I will be able to live my life! At the beginning it was hard, but I was so motivated to actually finish something and achieve something in my life. It was difficult to look at myself in the mirror, but I had the strength and determination to push through. I asked for help and the entire community mobilised to support me. It was overwhelming. The love that I received from my brothers at Portage… they are the ones who carried me through the process and helped me with my evolution. I achieved my goal of becoming a better man. I am a goalie and a coach for young kids. I want to share all that I learned at Portage with others and now I have the confidence to do so. When I entered this building, my shoulders were hunched and my head hung low. Tony, a case worker here at the MICA centre, is a magician of transformation. I am now proud of who I am - who I have become. I know that I’m worth it. Portage helped me get closer to my family and I now have a much healthier relationship with my dad.”

Louis-Alexandre’s father expressed his gratitude for what Portage had done for his son:

“In 2008, Louis-Alexandre attempted to commit suicide twice. I would not have a son if it were not for Portage. Thank you for supporting him on this journey. Portage helped him realise that his family had an important role to play in his rehabilitation process. For the past 3-4 years, our family has been focused on helping Louis-Alexandre get better. As far as I’m concerned, his experience at Portage has been a 100% success. For our family, the sun is now rising again thanks to Portage.”