By Amanda, Renascent Alumna It took me five years of continuously relapsing to finally surrender to the fact that my solution to life’s problems (drinking), was no longer a solution. It did not work any more, and with that realization, I checked myself into the Munro house. This past week, I celebrated five years of sobriety. My … Continued
By Natalie, Renascent Alumna Learning new habits was one of the most challenging things in recovery. I grew up in an alcoholic home and learned many bad habits from a young age. I felt responsible for my parents drinking and thought that if I could be better or do better, they would love me enough … Continued
Mark vividly recalls the accident that was the catalyst which started it all. In 1985, he and a friend were going for a motorcycle ride in Los Angeles, California. They hopped on their bikes and a few kilometers later the unimaginable occurred. A Toyota ran a red light and Mark hit the side of the … Continued
Steve Holt has always been gifted with a sense of humour. His ability to make friends and disarm his critics has always made him popular amongst his peers. Humor was one of the many coping mechanisms that he came to rely upon in a long career as an onset paramedic in the film industry and … Continued
By Robin, Renascent Alumni In December of 2020, I was so deep in my addiction. I had no ability to recall my decades of recovery led by Hazelden Minnesota in 1985. I had attended AA meetings for many years and had stayed sober until 2010. I believed at that time I was being brainwashed in … Continued
By Lori Bateman, Renascent Family Program Alumni From the moment my brother, Iain went to detox, to four months later entering Renascent for his treatment, it was an unravelling. The following day after dropping him off at the detox centre was very surreal and I was filled with so much emotion. I couldn’t stop crying. … Continued
By Colin, Renascent Alumni I spent 30+ years playing a role. Performing miracles, where I turned trust from my family into money; love from girlfriends into free rent; faith from employers into sums of undeserved wages; and loyalty from friends into scams and lies. So when the time came at Renascent Paul J. Sullivan Centre … Continued
By Gabriel, Renascent Alumni My entire life I felt I did not belong anywhere. I felt like the outsider, the one hiding amongst everyone else. I felt like I lived a double life. Only free to truly be myself when I was alone. I felt that it took me more effort to get to a … Continued
Having been in recovery for more than 8 years and an addictions counsellor for over 7 of those years, Renascent’s Martha Williams has supported hundreds of people in creating a new life without drugs and alcohol. “My recovery is my lifestyle and has been built around certain things that I MUST do,” says Martha. “I … Continued
I wondered how I would be able to celebrate Christmas (my fav time of the year) without it being the same as every other year. How would we wake up that morning without having Dad be a part of it, like every other year growing up? How would my brother and I open our stockings … Continued
