Tana’s Journey to Recovery and Hope
For five years, Tana Ballard battled with alcohol and drug addiction. Her struggle had a negative impact on her life.
“I lost my house due to my addiction and I lost my job,” Tana shared.
Tana was aware she needed to get some help to overcome this addiction that was affecting her everyday life. She turned to an old friend named Ryan Daw, who is the community and family services coordinator at The Salvation Army in Fort Frances, Ont. With his help, Tana was able to enroll in an addiction treatment centre just outside of town.
“I lost my house due to my addiction and I lost my job.”
“I personally wanted to go myself. Everyone was telling me forever to go to treatment. I’m so glad that I went because I learned so much about myself and I got a lot of tools there to kind of just help with the little triggers,” Tana shared. Ryan drove Tana to the treatment centre. Her friendship with him goes way back. They had previously worked together at a retail store that Tana used to manage a few years back. She admits that knowing Ryan encouraged her to come forward to seek assistance at The Salvation Army, as she believed it would be a place free of judgement and where she would feel comfortable.
Tana graduated from the treatment centre in July of 2023 and has been clean and sober ever since. She currently lives with her grandmother and brother, as she slowly gets back on her feet financially. Tana is working full-time at a local hotel.
In addition to the addiction support, Tana also receives a monthly food hamper from The Salvation Army. She says this has been a great help as she continues to rebuild her life.
“I’m just trying to get caught up. I lost everything. I was literally living out of a garbage bag. Just knowing that I have that security of a little bit of extra help with food has been a huge help because everything adds up. Having a little bit of extra help is just such a relief, it takes some weight off my shoulders for sure,” Tana said.
“Having a little bit of extra help is just such a relief, it takes some weight off my shoulders for sure.”
The next steps for Tana are to pay off some transit-related fines to get her car back and to find housing. Ryan is currently helping her to find a place. Even though there is still some road ahead, Tana remains hopeful she will be able to achieve her goals and is even planning to pursue a new professional career.
“I want to pursue a career in addiction counselling. After I went to treatment, I realized I could do this work, I could help people. I know that I would be good because I could relate to people with addiction problems. You’re never too old to go back to school, so hopefully within the next two years I’m hoping to get all that figured out.”
By Juan Romero
