Rodney Hine credits Adult & Teen Challenge with teaching him what it means to truly love himself and other people.
“They also taught me how to live a life that is productive and showing me how to be a responsible adult,” says Hine,
He was introduced to Adult & Teen Challenge of Central Canada’s faith-based treatment program by his father-in-law to help with his eleven-year meth addiction. Hine adds he initially started the program in 2014, leaving for a couple of months before returning to finish the program in 2015.
Rodney Hine (left), Adult & Teen Challenge Thunder Bay graduate, teaching at the men’s centre (Submitted)
Growing up in Winnipeg, Hine moved to Thunder Bay to start his path with the Adult & Teen Challenge program. “I really felt like this is where I needed to be when I was finished the program because I knew if I went back to Winnipeg, then I would probably end up falling into the same old cycle that I was in before,” Hine explains.
Adult & Teen Challenge Thunder Bay started in 2006 out of a small referral office above Evangel Church to later become a 14-bed men’s and 10-bed women’s residential home, community office and support groups as well as two micro-businesses, Adult & Teen Challenge Super Thrift and Vehicle Donation Program, which raise money to run its programs.
“It’s all thanks to the gracious donations of people in this community,” says Director and Adult & Teen Challenge graduate Robby Ahuja, adding they run on donations and do not receive government funding. “We have a fourteen-year history of saying, ‘the more money you give, the more people we’ll help,” says Ahuja.
Hine explains Adult & Teen Challenge participants have a normal nine-to-five workday, which helped foster a realistic expectation of life. He worked on job sites including Canadian Tire, building houses with one of Adult & Teen Challenge’s supporters and, after the program, found work at a local scrap yard.
Adult & Teen Challenge Thunder Bay’s February snowmobile fundraiser (Doug Portz)
Adult & Teen Challenge holds several annual community fundraising events to raise money for its programs. “We have a snowmobile ride we do in February, a golf tournament we do in June, a paintball tournament we do in September,” says Ahuja, adding they also host an annual fundraising banquet each November. He says the more resources Teen Challenge obtains, the more they can help men and women overcome addiction.
Through its vehicle donation program people can donate old boats, cars, trucks and SUVs to receive a tax receipt and raise funds to help cover the centre’s operating costs.
Hine is now five years clean and works for Adult & Teen Challenge as a teacher at its Thunder Bay men’s centre after keeping in touch through its graduates’ group and being mentored by one of its staff. “After a couple of years, they brought me on to work at the thrift store when an opportunity arose,” he recalls. “I slowly moved my way back in and I’m really happy to be a part of the ministry.”
Hine says Adult & Teen Challenge doesn’t simply focus on defining people as addicts, instead, it helps them become new people, let go of the past and start a new life without being burdened by shame and regret.
“After coming through the program, it gave my wife hope to restart our marriage and take another chance with me,” said Hine. “We’ve been together ever since.”
At Adult & Teen Challenge Thunder Bay’s residences its attendees form a community, forged through shared and similar experiences, to overcome addiction. Through its program and community support groups for men, women and their loved ones, Adult & Teen Challenge continues to grow and help all those affected by life-altering addictions.
If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, or for more information — contact an Adult & Teen Challenge Thunder Bay at (807) 345-2277
