Once addicted to drugs, Susan Small now uses her passion for cooking to inspire others.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you had met me just four years ago, you would have taken one look at me and crossed the street,\u201d says Susan. \u00a0At that time, Susan was addicted to painkillers and alcohol, and was facing time in prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was physically and mentally destroyed. I thought life could not possibility get any worse\u2014and yet it did,\u201d she says. \u201cI hit bottoms I never thought I\u2019d come out of\u2014I had nothing left. I was lost and alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan wanted to get clean and start her life over, but she couldn\u2019t do it by herself. That\u2019s how she ended up at The Salvation Army\u2019s Belkin House in Vancouver, a residential program facility that aims to help men and women break the cycle of homelessness.<\/p>\n
Back to the Beginning<\/strong><\/p>\n Susan first came to Belkin House nine years ago. A trained nurse, she became addicted to prescription drugs after an accident left her with a bad back. When her addiction escalated and got out of control, she lost her husband and her two-year-old son, and became homeless.<\/p>\n Susan spent six months there but wasn\u2019t able to turn her life around.<\/p>\n \u201cAt that point, I wasn\u2019t ready to hear anything,\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n Over the next six years, Susan spiraled downward and didn\u2019t know how to break free. Then her turning point came during a four-month stay in prison.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just so tired,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI\u2019d had an amazing life once and I knew that I could do better than this.\u201d<\/p>\n Susan went through detox, residential treatment and second-stage housing before she found herself back where she started, at Belkin House, in October 2012.<\/p>\n New Life<\/strong><\/p>\n When Susan arrived at Belkin House again, she felt at peace for the first time in ages. She quickly made friends, and started learning and growing as she took courses. She also began volunteering with The Salvation Army, first as a kettle worker.<\/p>\n Susan also started volunteering in the kitchen at Belkin House, where she learned that a culinary arts program might be offered. She was accepted and spent 14 weeks training at The Salvation Army\u2019s Homestead treatment centre. She and three other students had to read a thousand-page textbook, attend classes, cater events and take tests to prove their skills.<\/p>\n After completing her training, Susan learned that Homestead was looking for a new chef.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a phenomenal experience to work with the women,\u201d says Susan. To know where they\u2019re at, connect with them and show them that there is hope.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to her work at Homestead, Susan now volunteers at Belkin House and a local women\u2019s centre.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s huge for me to be able to give back,\u201d says Susan. \u201cIt\u2019s given me a tremendous amount of self-esteem. Whether I\u2019m working or volunteering, it\u2019s with an attitude of absolute gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n by Kristin Ostensen |\u00a0<\/em>Photo Credit: Kim Stallknecht Photography<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once addicted to drugs, Susan Small now uses her passion for cooking to inspire others. \u201cIf you had met me just four years ago, you would have taken one look at me and crossed the street,\u201d says Susan. \u00a0At that time, Susan was addicted to painkillers and alcohol, and was facing time in prison. \u201cI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-2266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n