They say that a change is as good as a rest. If that is true, then I should be the most rested guy in the world. Since the time I left home at sixteen, I have never spent more than four years in one place. My life has been filled with change. Moving from job to job and from city to city became a way of life for me.                  

I grew up on Cape Breton Island with my parents, and was the oldest of four brothers and one sister. My dad worked in the military and later as a miner. Like most children, I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My parents argued constantly and there always seemed to be an atmosphere of strife in our house. The only peaceful times were when my dad would be away working in the mines for weeks at a time. Whenever he came home, the fighting would continue where it had left off. My parents seemed to constantly blame each other for their unhappiness. In order to avoid this strife, I would stay away from home for days at a time and hang out at a friend’s house. What made things worse was that my relatives were more like the Hatfields and McKoys.

My mom’s family would side with her and my dad’s family would side with him. It was a real live family feud (without the shooting). I think that my aunts and uncles always felt sorry for us kids being caught in the middle of things. Every Christmas they would come over with bags and bags of gifts and shower us with more toys than we knew what to do with. This was one of the few bright spots in my otherwise chaotic childhood.

In 1962, at the age of twelve, my dad sat me down and told me that he was going away to work in the mines again and that he would not be coming back. That was the last time I saw him until eleven years later when, in 1973, I caught up to him in Victoria. We had an opportunity then to renew our relationship. I loved both of my parents. I somehow could understand their frustration with each other but never took one side over the other.

One day, when I was sixteen years old, I was walking home from school with my friend. On an impulse, we decided to hitchhike to Toronto. Just like my dad, I left home suddenly and never looked back. I called my mom when I got to Toronto and she didn't seem too surprised about the event. I did return home a year later in order to enter the military. Once again I found myself following in my dad’s footsteps. I worked as a communications officer for seven years before leaving the military at age twenty-four. For the next thirty plus years I moved from town to town and job to job. I think that I have done just about everything there is to do for employment. Working on oil rigs, in resorts, truck stops and bars have been just a few of the things that I have done.

About a year ago I landed in Calgary where I decided that it was time to think about doing something different (like settling in one place and getting some roots). I was just getting too old to continue roaming from place to place. I ended up renting a room at the Booth Centre while I tried to figure out what to do next. Then, last spring, I attended the Project Homeless Connect event that was held downtown at the Petro-Canada building. It was here that I met Tom from the Victory Foundation and heard about the affordable housing they had in Ogden.

A few months later, I met with Tom and was accepted into their transitional housing program. From this point, everything began to move quickly. I went back to school last September and will have my GED completed by early next year. From there I have been asked by the Homeless Foundation to attend a new University program that will be offered in 2010. This program will study the different aspects and causes of homelessness. I am now moving toward a career of working with the homeless and the issues surrounding homelessness. I feel that I will be able to make a difference in this area.

The Victory Foundation has helped me move to a place of stability and success in my life. For the first time in my life I feel a sense of family and belonging. I have recently renewed my relationship with God and I am now looking forward to my future. I am very thankful for the Victory Foundation and the Alyth Lodge for all that they have done to help me. It was through their help that I was able to begin to discover a sense of purpose and destiny for my life.