Author: Bruce Valeriani

Jess started using drugs at 15. We had moved to another city, where she met a new group of friends who were experimenting. I didn’t even know at first that she was using. She just started losing a lot of weight and acting out, sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night. I’d go into her room to wake her up in the morning for school and instead of finding her in her bed, I’d find stuffed animals under her covers.

When I finally did find out that she was using hard drugs – some of her friends were concerned about Jess and told me – I didn’t even believe it at first. My daughter? Meth? There’s no way. Finally, I couldn’t deny it any longer.

I tried tough love: I gave her a choice — go to rehab or leave the house. And when I gave her that choice, she left. I had to watch my 15-year-old daughter pack a little bag and walk out my door. I don’t even know how I survived that.

After Jess left, I managed to befriend some of the people in her new circle – people that I never would have wanted to associate with. But I figured if I could get to know them, I’d always have a phone number to call if Jess didn’t answer her phone. That happened a lot. And some of them seemed to sense that Jess didn’t belong where she was. They’d scramble around to try to find her and contact me to tell me where she was, and that she was OK. I’m really blessed that I had that connection.

One of these people—a 26-year-old guy she’d been hanging around with – helped convince Jess to stay at Dave Smith when we finally got her into treatment, and she was threatening to leave. They made a deal that if she stayed, he would also try to get clean, so I drove him to a facility in North Bay 10 hours away. And he stayed clean too. It was just a blessing.

Jess tried three other facilities before we found Dave Smith, and they weren’t a good fit for her. She also wasn’t ready. I figured Dave Smith would be perfect because it’s for youth, and she finally agreed to try it. For the first three weeks, she kept wanting to leave. It was really, really, tough, because I thought I was going to lose my daughter again. I really did. And I blamed myself because all this started after we moved.

By the grace of God, she stayed. And while Jess was at Dave Smith, I felt like I finally had some support. I knew I wasn’t alone. I drove from Waterloo to Ottawa every single weekend because I wanted Jess to know I was there for her. I had to show her that I was invested in this as much as she was – Dave Smith was saving my daughter’s life.

The Centre has had such a positive influence on Jess’s life because I can see that when she does struggle, her first thought is not, ‘oh, let me go get high,’ which it used to be. She has the tools now to cope in more positive ways. She does yoga breathing techniques. She’s studying Buddhism. And she still has her notebooks from Dave Smith that she’ll go through.

Without Dave Smith, I wouldn’t have a relationship with my daughter. Jess would be gone. I don’t think she would be alive today. When she was using, her personality completely changed. Friends and family were always so important to Jess but when she was using, she became rude and mean. She was lost and wanted no part of family and friends anymore. It was devastating to watch my beautiful, caring daughter transform into someone I didn’t even recognize.

When Jess went to Dave Smith, she came back to herself. She found her love of school again. Seven years later, she is working and saving money to travel after she’s done university. She has all these goals and plans that she’s fulfilling that she didn’t have before. Dave Smith brought me back my daughter and saved her life – and mine, too. I will be forever grateful to DSYTC!

Sabrina is the proud parent of Jess, an alumnus of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.

When I was a teenager, I had been having some issues around a lot of things – my family, my peers. I was also playing competitive basketball at a very high level. The other side of my life, when I wasn’t playing, was getting involved in substance use and other unhealthy behaviours and interactions with people.

I switched schools to try and solve the problem on my own, but ended up just going back to it. I started using multiple substances on a daily basis. In hindsight, after reflecting on it for more than a decade, I think I was feeling a lot of pressure. My brothers were both competitive athletes. One brother went to Med school. My parents were amazing, but in the community I grew up in and in my family, there was definitely a need to achieve and I felt like a bit of an imposter. I didn’t know who I was yet.

I was also curious about things. I grew up in suburbia, but I would often take the bus downtown just to see what was going on. I wanted to branch out. But I ended up going in an unhealthy direction and didn’t have the tools to manage it. I started following my peers and just doing what they were doing. After experimenting with substances, they became a crutch for me. I’ve struggled with anxiety since I was very young, and when I wasn’t intensely playing basketball and I needed to feel calm, substances became a quick and easy fix.

My story is unique because my two best friends and I ended up being referred to Dave Smith around the same time. I ended up telling my parents my substance use was getting out of hand. I think they thought I was just smoking weed, partying and drinking, which was pretty typical at my high school, especially among the sports teams. That’s how we celebrated. It wasn’t really affecting my performance at first, but I don’t know how, physically, I was able to do the things I did. But I’ve had family members who were addicts, and I knew that something needed to change or it was going to end very badly. Using substances didn’t feel right, but it also felt good, so it was a huge back and forth all the time.

When one friend was referred to Dave Smith, my parents decided I should go too. We weren’t allowed to go together, but because my friend went first, I had time to sit with that. Honestly, when I got there, I felt so much weight fall off of me – it was like the pressures of everything around me were gone. I’m not saying it was all butterflies and wonderful, because there were breakdowns, wanting to leave and breaking rules and getting in trouble and stuff like that. But the Centre helped me take down all the walls I had been building up – and then I could start building myself back up into who I wanted to be.

Being at Dave Smith was an amazing experience that taught me so much self-awareness. It made me aware of things about myself that I didn’t know, like what my triggers were. I also learned that it was OK to ask for help and that I didn’t have to handle everything on my own. Dave Smith taught me resiliency and gave me a sense of independence, and with every win in treatment, my self-esteem improved. It also allowed me to be kid again in a safe space.

The staff were also unbelievable. Now that I’m working in the field I look back and I can’t believe they were able to give so much at work when they had their own lives to live too. They also inspired me. Because of my own experience, I had a strong desire to help others, so I completed the Child and Youth Worker program at Algonquin College, and now work in municipal social services.

If I hadn’t had that experience at the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre when I was younger, I honestly don’t know where I would be. When I close my eyes and meditate, sometimes one of the pictures I meditate on is a spot in Dave Smith because I remember sitting there and feeling completely at peace when I was a kid. It is so meaningful for me. I am so grateful to Dave Smith, and everyone who works there.

Haley is a graduate of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.

I worked with my dad for 35 years, running the catering business. Dad was involved with a lot of charities, but the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre was his baby. I remember more than 30 years ago when he learned that someone he knew had a son struggling with addiction. My Dad decided he had to do something about it, because that’s who he was.

My Dad was happiest when he was working hard – whether he was running his businesses, flipping hamburgers at a school fundraiser or acting as an auctioneer at a gala. He came from a big family, and my grandparents didn’t have very much. But from the time he was very young, Dad was always wanting to help people whenever he could. Organizing people around a cause, getting charitable initiatives off the ground and moving them forward – that was his passion.

Because I ran the catering business, I worked a lot of the fundraising events where my dad was the auctioneer. He was so happy raising money for the causes, like the DSYTC, that he cared about. He’d be up on stage, smiling from ear to ear, doing his thing. Sometimes the whole crew would stop and watch him in action. It was mesmerizing.

Dad could be serious at times, but there was a lot of laughter; every day I worked with him was so much fun, and I will always remember that. The Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre is his legacy, and it’s an absolute necessity in the community. Young people are struggling, and they need a place to go for live-in treatment that allows them to spend time away from unhealthy situations.

The new facility is going to be amazing. Not only will all the staff be together, but there will be so much space available for kids to study, and to participate in healthy activities like basketball. The extra capacity will also mean shorter wait times for young people who need help.

My dad and everyone at DSYTC worked so hard to help get the new Centre off the ground. He’ll be looking down on us the day it opens, and I think he’ll be in tears. We will all be crying tears of joy. All that hard work everyone did and then to finally cut that ribbon – holy smokes. That will be the day of all days.

Sharron Smith is Dave Smith’s daughter and a long-time supporter of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.

Growing up, I lived in a pretty bad situation and I had to take care of myself and my little brother too. My parents were on drugs and I guess because of that, they weren’t really paying attention. There were nights where there was a lot of fighting, and we had to leave the house.

When I was in the ninth grade, maybe 14 years old, I started hanging out with a lot of older people. I would go to the smoking section at my old high school, where everyone was 18 or 19 years old, and that was where my downfall started. I started smoking cigarettes and sneaking out. I began to do drugs. One time I did drugs, early on, I had a complete breakdown and I was with a group of people I didn’t know. It was really bad.

After that, I was introduced to MDMA, or “Molly,” and it was the best thing I’d ever experienced so I started to do it a lot more. I would go out of my way to get it. There I was, at 14 years old, busing downtown to pick up drugs and come back. I also had a big alcohol issue. I would bring bottles of wine and a corkscrew with me to school. I always had vodka in water bottle. Nothing I did was enjoyable unless I was high or drunk.

My parents started to notice that I had changed. They put a tracker on my phone. Wouldn’t let me leave the house after dark. I didn’t have any privacy – and that made things worse. I’d sneak out and leave my phone behind. I would do anything.

One night, though, I took some prescription medication that wasn’t mine. I took a huge dose, not realizing, when I didn’t feel anything at first, that it was extended-release drug. I started hallucinating, and I ended up in the hospital in cardiac arrest and having seizures. I almost died. The next day, the doctor provided my parents with information about rehab – and that’s how I landed at the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre. I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t have a choice since I was under 16.

At 14, I was the youngest person there, and I had a lot of setbacks. I insisted I was going to leave. I wouldn’t go to groups. I wouldn’t go to classes. I just lay in my bed and I didn’t care. But soon, it became quite clear that no one was going to come to get me. It was a rough transition, but eventually I started to get comfortable. I started to go to the groups and try to make friends, and I began enjoying it a bit more.

Unfortunately, during my one home visit, I got plastered and returned hungover. I thought I was ready to go home but I clearly wasn’t. After that, I took the program a lot more seriously. I started to do quite a bit better. It was interesting to me that I could go from hating life and just wanting to get high to wanting to be more successful. It was a big change. I pushed against that change a lot, but I decided I could either make myself miserable or I could try to get better. So, I tried.

The Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre saved my life. It gave me a fresh start. I still struggle with a seizure disorder and neurological issues that resulted from my drug use, but I graduated a year early from high school, went to college at 17 to study medical esthetics, and now I’m about to graduate with a degree in Nursing. Eventually I want to become a Nurse Practitioner. I would not have been able to do any of that without the communication skills, the coping skills, and the patience I learned while I was at Dave Smith. I spent a lot of time trying to understand other people’s perspectives, and that helps a lot – especially as a nurse.

Shelby is a graduate of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.

When I was 18 years old, I was in a really bad place. I was seeing a substance use counsellor at the Royal Ottawa and they were trying to convince me to go to the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre (DSYTC). But despite being tired of living the way I was, I wasn’t willing to go because I wasn’t ready to change.

I only agreed to go once my Mom, who is still my best friend, insisted. She told me if I didn’t go, I’d have to find somewhere else to live. Despite my initial fear and unwillingness to go, I’m glad I did.

For four months, I had individual and group therapy sessions, learned about coping mechanisms, how to resolve conflict and SMART recovery. I took Zumba classes, went to the gym and participated in many other activities. I also took math and chemistry classes to bring my grades up. I ended up staying an extra month because I didn’t feel ready to leave yet. But once I graduated, I wasn’t alone. Laura Hewitt helped me. She was great. We met once a week and she was always there for me. She even bought me and my family presents at Christmas. I really want to thank her.

I’ve wanted to study science since I was a kid. But when I was in active addiction, I didn’t think it was possible. Everything felt hopeless. It wasn’t until I got to the DSYTC that things changed for me. When I left there, I worked hard to make a new life for myself and my mental and physical health really improved.

Today, life is very different. I have just graduated with a Bachelor of Health Sciences from the University of Ottawa. And I will be applying to medical school next year. I have a job and I volunteer at the children’s hospital and at a long-term care home. It all feels really good even if sometimes a little overwhelming. It has been seven years since my stay at Dave Smith which seems crazy. But now I’m looking forward to and excited for the future.

Asha is an alumnus of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.

I was in my first year of university in Montreal when I got into trouble. I had moved from my hometown outside of Ottawa to go to McGill, and I guess I got in with the wrong crowd. Coming from a small town and going to a big city is never easy, and so I made friends with people I maybe shouldn’t have. I was really deep into the party scene. I downplayed it to my parents, but they could sense that something was really wrong.

Every time I came home, I was exhausted all the time. I was pale, and I’d lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. My mom was able to connect the dots pretty quickly. I wouldn’t even admit to myself that I had an issue, but my mom was very worried. She started doing research and found Dave Smith.

After five or six months away, I came home to Ottawa after having quite a big breakdown in Montreal. I realized it was the right move. The person I was with in Montreal had broken up with me because they said they loved me and didn’t want to watch me die. It was tough.

My mom had had gone through the first steps of getting me into the program at Dave Smith but I was reluctant. I was like, ‘You don’t know me. You don’t know what my problems are.’ But I guess I realized that I did have a really big problem, and it was becoming more and more clear that I couldn’t handle it on my own.

On my first day, I was nervous to meet the other girls, and then I was really upset. After a week of being there my parents came to visit and I remember sitting in the room with them, bawling my eyes out, and telling them, ‘I don’t belong here. I need to leave.’

I think that, deep down, I knew it was right for me, but it was hard to say that. I didn’t really want to be there until around the two-month mark, and by then, I never wanted to leave.

There were a lot of group sessions that were really good. One was called Reasons for Quitting. The first couple of times we had it, I was really pissed off, but it became my favourite group. We would go around the room and each person would take a turn giving reasons why we quit and everyone else would rate it on a scale of one to five according to how much resonated with them. That group gave me reasons I didn’t even know I had.

Dave Smith also instilled in us a lot of healthy practices, like mindfulness meditation, healthy eating, healthy patterns, and healthy amounts of exercise. The counselors were phenomenal as well. Looking back, I don’t know what I would have done without some of those people. If the counselors were not as good at their job as they are, I don’t think I would have made it.

I’ve been sober for just over four years now. I started working with the Federal public service in August. Before that I was working for the Ottawa Hospital in the call centre. It was a hard job to do during COVID, but it was good for me because I was able to move out on my own. I live by myself with my two cats, and my parents moved just down the street. I love it. I don’t think anything can make a person as grateful for their parents as I am after what happened with me, and I know not everyone has that kind of family support.

If it were not for Dave Smith, I would be dead or homeless in Montreal. I would have no money, no job and no place to live. There’s nothing I could possibly do or say that would show the extent of my gratitude. I owe my life to Dave Smith.

Abigail is an alumnus of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.

When I arrived at the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre (DSYTC) back in 2005, I knew I had found ‘my spot’. I got a good feeling right away. Everyone was welcoming, friendly and professional. Over the years, I’ve developed a deep loyalty to the organization. No two days have ever been the same. It’s intense but incredibly rewarding.

I began as a substance use counsellor at DSYTC and then moved into a clinical program coordinator role. Most recently, I have been a Family Therapist, supporting the parents of the youth in our program. Not surprisingly, when a youth is suffering with mental health and addictions challenges, the impact on the family is significant. Parents need support and guidance and they need to look after their own wellness so they can support their youth. It’s the resilience of these parents that inspires me. They would literally walk through fire if it would help their youth. And I am so grateful to help them in any way I can.

I met Dave Smith several times and it was a privilege. When he stopped by, the place lit up. He was one of the warmest, most vibrant and enthusiastic people I’ve ever met – and I loved hearing his ‘Hey-Oh!’ bellows.

I’ve given my heart and soul to this job and have recently made the difficult and emotional decision to move on to pursue another dream, which is going into private practice. I love this organization and believe in it, and will be forever grateful for my time here. I wish only the best for the DSYTC.

When the new Centre opens, I will be there to celebrate the fact that Dave’s Dream – a dream we have all shared – has become a reality. There will be an opportunity to do even more for youth and their families in a more coordinated way. It will bring a real sense of unity in a beautiful new setting.

Shannon is a Family Therapist and worked at the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre for 11 years.