He started his drug and alcohol use at 15 years old and by 17 was in a detention centre in Victoria. Almost 20 years later, homeless and still deep in his crystal meth and heroine addiction, Brendan Elliott went to jail.
"I was still in the cycle of addiction but wanted to stop but I had no tools to do that," Elliott said. "I had no supports - I had burned all my bridges."
When AWAC, the Association for Women and Community, reached out to him while still incarcerated in Prince George, Elliott literally took the olive branch offered to him and went into AWAC's transitional housing program.
"The team at Olive's Branch is absolutely amazing and everyone there was geared toward my recovery and walked with me in my journey," Elliott, now 38 years old, said.
He's been sober 20 months.
"After a year of sobriety they gave me a job," Elliott said.
He works in the outreach office as a services administrator and this year is coordinating the Coldest Night of the Year event that shines a light on homelessness and raises funds to support the housing projects offered by AWAC.
"Every day I help people and it's a dream," Elliott said.
The Coldest Night of the Year is less a group event and more of a walk in your own neighbourhood activity this year.
Because of the pandemic, the annual event scheduled for Feb. 20 will be held virtually and any group or individual can now pick any day this month to do the two to five kilometre walk to fit their schedule.
"We got a late start organizing the event but it's not too late to participate," Elliott said.
Participants can plan a route around their neighbourhoods to walk at a safe social distance away from teammates or can coordinate a day and time to walk but do it individually.
Last year, the event raised more than $24,000 and the goal is to top that this year.
Proceeds of the fundraising effort goes to AWAC, which is a non-profit organization that began in 1994. At first, the AWAC mandate was to provide safe and supportive shelter for street-involved women and female youth.
As the culture changed over the years, there was a need to expand services to respond to an increase in the rate of homelessness for both men and women.
AWAC created programs around that, including the Housing First, Outreach, Housing Readiness and Olive's Branch transitional housing program. The shelter is now open to men during the day and all programs apart from Housing Readiness is open to all genders. All programs at AWAC provide clients with the opportunity to rebuild their lives through support using a nonjudgmental, trauma-informed approach.
The goal is to help people move from homelessness to independent living by offering various levels of supports throughout the different stages of housing.
Men’s supportive recovery is a program that takes in men that are homeless, possibly in addictions and receiving ministry assistance. It’s a low barrier housing program not abstinent based with few programs or obligations specifically guided towards giving the men opportunity for finding permanent residence either in the community or in the housing readiness program.
Housing Readiness is an abstinent-based program for both men and women. Housing Readiness is a more program-based housing option where clients work towards goals and permanent housing. It is a six-month program and most clients who complete it then move to the Victoria Towers housing program. The Victoria Towers program is a one-year abstinent-based program for both men and women.
Clients in the program are given independence while still being supported by the AWAC outreach team but the program is geared to helping them become more independent working towards finding a forever home.
Housing First is a community outreach program where the outreach team works with clients living in the community. This is usually more available for clients that are elderly, have mental limitations or mobility issues. This program helps clients by making appointments, advocating and getting groceries.
Olive's Branch is the therapeutic community that is geared towards helping those suffering from a background of homelessness and addiction. It is a three-year program for both men and women. There are also many other clients in the community that benefit from services like help with errands, finding housing and rental supplements for those facing eviction to keep their current housing.
To help these programs keep going, people participating in the Coldest Night of the Year are invited to go live or post pictures on their social media account and tag #CNOY2021 or @AWACPrinceGeorge so their people can cheer them on.
Adults who are registered and raise at least $150 and those who are 17 and under and raise at least $75 can get a Coldest Night of the Year toque.
"If you'd like to join a team that's already in place people can do that - my team is Olive's Branch and anyone can join," Elliott said. "This is an important event to help those who are homeless in our community."
For more information, contact the local CNOY event directors Alanna at 250-617-3037 or email alanna.lecerf@hotmail.com (evening contact: 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.) and Brendan at 250-562-6262 or email outreach@awaccommunityservices.org (day contact: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) or visit the website at cnoy.org/location/princegeorge.
