Just over 300 people attended the 19th Annual Souls Harbour Rescue Mission “Love Your Neighbour” fundraising banquet Monday night. Addictions Recovery; Stories of Hope, Healing & Transformation was the theme of the evening with each presenter giving hard facts and perspective on Saskatchewan’s landscape of addictions, however the night also included the the word hope and how things continue to look up. While there will always be the foul side of addictions, many are making the decision to turn their lives around and make a difference in their communities.
The evening began with Regina Police Services’ Inspector, Brad Walter speaking on how Regina is affected by the influx of illegal drugs such as meth, cocaine and fentanyl. While law enforcement does what they can to monitor and reduce the opioid drug availability and use in urban centres, Awe must remember that this is a provincial and country wide issue. And that we cannot characterize a drug user in one way. Addictions can grab hold of anyone at anytime.
MLA Jim Lemaigre, Athabasca, spoke to a captivated audience about his upbringing in Northern Saskatchewan, his career before becoming an MLA as an RCMP officer and serving as a program manager for the First Nations and Indigenous Policing Program. It was a passionate presentation of life in remote Northern Saskatchewan as a child. Mr. Lemaigre related stories of the use of alcohol in northern communities, how elders have worked hard in places like Pinehouse, Saskatchewan to impress upon generations that sobriety is key. The reflections of how police are affected by what they see and work with, was raw and real. As an RCMP member of the north, his message to law enforcement was that the problems that officers dealt with were not their burden to bear. Hard to leave that at the door when you are dealing with what addictions are doing to tear families apart.
The evening wrapped up with the Rescue Award which was presented by Souls Harbour Executive Director, Joe Miller. An amazing story of courage was told by Joe about one of the volunteers at the Mission. Seventeen year old, “Eddie” jumped into action to save the life of a person who was overdosing while at Soul’s Harbour. Of course there was much more to this story and the recipient was not in attendance, but it left all of us in awe.
Finally, the night celebrated the new path that the women of Shayil Home Women’s Addictions Program were taking to get their lives back on track, leaving addiction and unhealthy lifestyles behind. These women are courageous and an inspiration for those that may look to them in the future as mentors. Thank you to Nathan McLean for highlighting their stories of success and progress.
Thank you Souls Harbour for asking me to be your emcee. For those that would like to know more about what programs are available or how you can make donations or reach out to the mission you will find details at https://shrmsk.com
Joe Miller, Executive Director Souls Harbour; RPS Inspector, Brad Walter; MLA Jim Lemaigre and Nathan McLean Director of Addictions (pictured below)
