Recovery group uses the fair to help create community

By Lethbridge Herald on August 22, 2025.

Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Community is essential for everyone to thrive, but it’s especially important for those who are working on becoming sober.

Fresh Start Recovery’s model of care reflects that importance and hosts community events to help bridge the gap between those in recovery and other community members.

On Wednesday afternoon, more than 300 people fostered a sense of community by joining a barbecue hosted by Fresh Start Recovery.

Bruce Holstead, executive director of Fresh Start Recovery, says in his personal experience, having sober events is crucial for those new to the sober lifestyle.

“It allows us to practice (socialization) and that social development of having to engage with people its way more than just a celebration of Whoop-Up Days it’s a contribution to people’s recovery.”

Since Fresh Start’s arrival in Lethbridge three years ago, Holstead says the people of Lethbridge have shown their support for the graduates of their program time and time again.

“We’ve been embraced time and time again as we slowing integrate and people get to see who we are and what we’re about, it speaks volumes for Lethbridge.”

Many people dealing with addiction are often unwilling to seek treatment because they’re surrounded by people who feel like family while on the street.

Holstead says Fresh Start Recovery aims to create a new community for its clients from the moment they arrive and long after they graduate. When he himself was seeking recovery, he relied on a program which stood by him, even on his worst days.

“(The program) kept telling me to keep coming and they became that support mechanism that I was missing.”

Holstead says the new Compassionate Intervention Act introduced by the provincial government earlier this year will help not only the individuals themselves, but also their families.

“I think people need to understand that an individual who has been on methamphetamine and that are in psychosis need help, and the families that are watching the loved ones die around them, they need help. They need support to know there’s an alternative, that something can be done.”

He points out that those who experience mental health crises that are similar to those produced by drug use are often institutionalized to protect them and others.

People in the midst of addiction are often unable to make decisions for themselves, says Holstead, due to not only the effects of the drugs but also the long-term consequences. Essentially, addicts’ brains are “rewired” to impair their judgment even when they’re not under the influence.

For Fresh Start Recovery, the return on investment for those in the recovery is substantial and it all begins with creating a sense of community.