A 34-year-old man who has struggled with addiction for nearly 20 years is crediting his elders for helping him sustain a recovery.
Michael Titian, 34, of Tla-o-qui-hat First Nation began smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol at age 16.
Ten years earlier when Michael was six his mother Cheryl died, which caused his life to spiral into an abyss.
Michael and his seven siblings were placed into separate foster care homes in Port Alberni and Esowista, which he says attributed to his addictions.
While in care Michael said he suffered from physical, emotional and sexual abuse from both men and women. As time went on he felt that no one cared or loved him, and Michael dropped out of high school at Grade 10
Michael started using cocaine and crystal methamphetamine at age 26 and then at 28 started using heroin and fentanyl.
He said at first the drugs were cheap and ranged from $20 to $40 per day, but they steadily increased to up to $200 a day. To support his drug habit Michael became a dealer and sold illicit drugs to people on the streets. Michael said being a drug dealer was the worst thing he did. He was constantly looking over his shoulder for fear of being robbed or beaten by other addicts or arrested by the cops.
Michael has been in and out of jail since he was 16 years old. He has been homeless, slept in alleyways in Vancouver and Victoria, and while homeless he said he felt lost and lonely.
Drugs are an illusion of comfort where Michael "felt no sadness, no pain and no fear while high," he said.
Michael has attempted to stop his addictions for the past four years and this year he has managed to stay clean and sober for over 10 months.
While he was in jail one of the workers told him one of his siblings was in treatment, so Michael decided then and there that he would go to the VisionQuest Recovery Society treatment centre in Chilliwack, B.C.
VisionQuest offers detox, individual and group therapy and relapse prevention.
Today Michael works at VisionQuest as a house monitor and is responsible for ensuring people are in the right groups. He also provides smudging and ooshooms (bathing in the river)
Michael credited Papa Ben, an elder at VisionQuest, for guiding him on the right path to healing and teaching him skills to help himself and others.
Through his healing journey over these past few months Michael knows he is not alone, and fondly remembers his grandmother Evelyn, who loved and cared for him.
Michael also would like to acknowledge and thank his auntie Christina Dawson for taking the time to look for him every day on Hastings Street.
"My auntie is a real blessing,” he said.
He also mentioned Grace and Eddie Frank, who took time to talk to him while on the street, and tried to take him home several times over the past few years. They told him he didn't belong on the streets and that there are lots of people who to care for him.
