I grew up in the East Coast and have been in Fort Mac for 13yrs, I started doing substances back home and when I got here unfortunately it was making money at a young age with nothing to do. My family lives here and we get along okay. I visit them now and then, although I haven’t seen them in a while.
I took this picture to show case the life of a youth who is dealing with substance and also currently dealing with homelessness. I am always on my feet, always walking. When you don’t have a stable residence, your life is always being on the street, walking from one drop in centre to another to access services or even get food in your stomach. It showcases how my tired my feet can get sometimes but without a bed to lay on you will always be walking.
This shopping cart is one of the things we use a lot. We use it to collect bottles and cans for recycling so we can get enough money for our next fix.
This picture of the church, even with substances plugging me I am still a firm believer in God because with him by my side I believe it makes me keep pushing even when they are days that I just want to give up on life. I am a believer that he will get me out of this lifestyle. This church also represents one of the safe spaces that people can get a meal or listening ear.
This is one of the places where we hide when we are doing substances. People will judge you so this is one of the places where we hide from society when we are using. Its an illness that society would rather not acknowledge or let it be done in secret.
These trees are fighting to live just like we as substances are fighting to live for the next day. I wake up in the morning and say today will be different, today will be the day I get rid of this disease but unfortunately it keeps dragging me back and I keep trying to fight to be different every day. As a user I am always fighting for my life.
This bench is another place we spend a lot of time in when the sun is shining and we don’t want to access any centre, we just want to be like everyone else and just enjoy the sun and forget our problems.
Centre of Hope is a drop place where we spend a lot of time in the afternoon, we can get food, clothes, a bath and access to the computer. I come here to relax and wait sometimes for other centres to open up like the soup kitchen and mat program. It is a place to spend time when you have nothing to do.
The bus stop is another place we sleep in when we can’t go to shelters or centres. Sometimes we hang there to use or have a drink. As a youth dealing with homelessness unfortunately sometimes there are not many places where one can lay their head so you end up sleeping in a bus stop and during the winter it can me the warmest place to sleep instead of outside or roughing it.
I collect tobacco stubs from here, so I can crash them together and make another cigarette. Sometimes I can’t believe my life has been reduced to not even being able to afford a pack of cigarettes that I resort to collecting used stubs.
