Recovery camp giving a chance to those seeking help
By Lethbridge Herald on September 5, 2024.
Unhoused individuals eat a bag lunch earlier this summer at Galt Gardens provided by Kii Maa Pii Pii Tsin, a non-profit outreach organization which aims to help those seeking recovery.
Herald photo by Alexandra NoadAlexandra Noad – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Galt Gardens is home to approximately 100-200 unhoused individuals a day. While it can be used for public events and festivals, most people tend to avoid it for safety reasons.
While some of the population at Galt Gardens are new, others have spent their entire lives unhoused, but they call Galt Gardens home and treat each other like family.
“On the street, we’re all family, you know, we reconnect with one another, you know, lives and problems,” one person said.
While they have each other, one thing was made clear – they didn’t choose to live on the street.
A person who wishes to remain anonymous recalls having a house, a nice vehicle and a job before everything fell apart.
As much has he has tried to get on his feet, it’s a cycle of needing a house to get a job and needing a job to get a house.
D.J. has been unhoused for over 10 years. It started after a 10-year sentence for crimes he committed. When he was released, he turned to alcohol to deal with being locked up for so long, and the alcohol turned to drugs.
D.J. says everyone who is on the street has lost someone who they consider to be family to the opioid crisis. He hopes by sharing his story people will see how bad it really is for them.
“I do want to tell my story because, like, there is a huge problem here and you can only sweep stuff under the rug for so long,” said D.J.
One problem D.J. finds is lack of resources for people who do need help. He says many people seeking recovery have to wait months to get into a recovery building.
To help those who are seeking recovery, Alvin Mills, who was an addict himself, is hosting recovery camps.
Alvin Mills spent many years on the streets. He finally sought recovery after a near fatal stab. After the incident he worked hard to stay clean and has made it his life mission to help those who are seeking recovery through his camps.
Mills has created a non-profit organization called Kii Maa Pii Pii Tsin. With this not for profit he does outreach work as well as provides bag lunches for those struggling.
“Our mandate has always been to support the at-risk and vulnerable members of the community…we want to humanize the ones struggling out here. They’re not just drug addicts, they’re people,” said Mills.
Kii Maa Pii Pii Tsin is an Indigenous organization, however Mills hopes to help anyone who wants to escape addiction.
Mills is currently working on putting together a recovery camp which he hopes will take place at the end of September through November.
“We’ve secured a site 20 minutes outside of town on the Blood Reserve,” said Mills.
Mills added the importance of getting the people who are seeking recovery to get out of the city to get clean.
“This way it will give the participants a chance to get away from the influences of the city. When you’re here in the city there’s influences everywhere, but if you go out to the camp it’s a little more secluded and we’re not going to have drug dealers running around,” said Mills.
All volunteers and staff attending the camp will be subject to a mandatory drug screening for the protection of the participants.
Mills has currently requested funding from the Blood reserve to help cover insurance expenses and has expressed sincere gratitude to Chief and council who have supported his endeavours over the years.
“I would like to thank Kainai Marketplace and Richard Red Crow for their ongoing support in helping feed the ones who are struggling out here,” said Mills.
Mills added with the opioid crisis disproportionately affecting the Indigenous people, it is important for him to have the support of the Blood Tribe.
“Kii Maa Pii Pii Tsin is an Indigenous organization, they started on the Blood Tribe and we focus our efforts on the ones struggling in Lethbridge. I’ve been involved in this fight for a number of years and up until the present, it has evolved to a point where it’s killing our people at a very high rate,” said Mills.
Mills hopes to not only help those seeking recovery, but also wants to bring awareness to the public that people on the street are humans with family and friends and to not turn a blind eye to them.
“You can’t put value on a human life. I urge the mainstream public if you see somebody overdosing at least call the ambulance. Call somebody don’t just walk by,” said Mills.
Mills is accepting volunteers for lunch runs as well as donations for his camp and can be reached at Alvinator44@outlook.com.
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This sounds like an initiative worth supporting.
This is a great idea! Instead of expanding the Lethbridge shelter, they should have built a good shelter in Standoff to keep their young people off our streets where they often die
Common sense! They have a detox facility,they are building a new treatment facility and having a shelter and this camp that would transition people from the streets into Alvin Mills camp, prepping them for detox, and then treatment just makes sense.
A close friend and a warrior to end the carnage on our streets made similar suggestions, but was called a racist and banished from further comments in this platform.
Keeping these young people off our streets will help keep them alive, and from what I can tell, Mr Mills is dedicated to this cause.