Kathy Knowles
Photography: Unique Images Photography
THE STORE FRONT DOOR is like many of the others along 13th St. N. And yet, a thousand people courageously walk through it each month and thousands more will enter in the future. It opens to the home of the Chinook Society for Recovering Addicts (CSRA).
The CSRA is a non-profit charitable organization whose mandate is to provide meeting space for numerous 12-step groups from the area. Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous are just some of the groups who benefit.
The CSRA was formed in 2001 and in 2007, with the aid of government grant money, purchased the building at 408, 13th St. N. “We wanted something more stable,” says board member, Rick Clark. “Something that we could keep, that would always be here for 12-step groups.” Up until then the groups were renting space in a nearby building. Rick adds that these kinds of groups have been around for 60 years and the CSRA wants to ensure they’ll have meeting space for another 60. “The biggest thing is being with people that get where you’re coming from,” says Tracy Cockerill, another board member. “You walk in here and sit with people who get it, who’ve gone through it and have tools and steps to share. You pick up things from members who have gone down that road. You see how successful these people are in their lives now and there’s a hope factor.”
Each of the CSRA board’s six positions is filled by someone who has been through one of the 12-step programs. “I’ve been clean for 10 years,” says Rick. “And I do this to give back. This program helped me, and if I can help just one other person, it’s worth it.”
For the full story pick up the current issue of Lethbridge living Magazine
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