‘GET YOUR LIFE BACK’
Launch Pad Recovery Center tackles addiction and homelessness
John Button, a former drug-dealing addict who found Christ in a jail cell and now wages war on the local drug epidemic, is actually happy his bid for a “sober living home” on Drouillard Road was rejected in 2018 by city council.
“Thank you for doing that because this is what happened because of that,” Button said of what has emerged instead.
There was an upswell of Ford City opposition to his rezoning application for a fairly modest five-bed operation.
“You know, I had lots of opposition and anyone in his right mind would say, ‘Why am I doing this?’”
Rather than give up, he turned the house into something the zoning rules allowed — a treatment centre that saw the number of people walking in for help swell from 80 to 300 per month.
Then his Launch Pad Recovery Center began opening sober living homes nearby, for a total of 11 beds in the Ford City area. And in January, it opened an 18-bed home downtown — ground zero for homelessness and addiction — in the 800 block of Ouellette Avenue.
The former motel was “a dark cesspool of chaos” before it was taken over, according to Button. “Drug infested, prostitution-infested, drug dealing going on.”
A tonne and a half of garbage was removed, and new places were found for the existing tenants to move to. The home quickly filled up with men who had hit bottom and resolved to change. Most were homeless or fresh out of jail with nowhere to live.
They start at the home, where absolute abstinence is demanded, with drug tests and random room checks. You’re required to attend at least one session daily — your choice of AA, Narcotics Anonymous, Smart Recovery or several other programs. If you relapse, you have to go to detox to dry out before coming back. A second strike and you’re out for a year.
They eventually graduate to homes in the Drouillard Road area that offer more freedom. The new downtown location “is our launching pad,” Button said.
“I sit back and I look at it and within two years this is it, the Launch Pad Recovery Center, the place that wasn’t supposed to be,” said Button, who had a $2,000-a-day drug habit before he found Christ on June 20, 2012, while in a cell at the old Windsor Jail.
Jason Jackson, sober since December when he decided while in jail that he’d had enough of a chaotic, violent, partying life, entered Launch Pad about three weeks ago and said he owes his recovery to the centre’s regimen and atmosphere of brotherhood.
“If I was a millionaire, there would be no more (addicts) because I would give them all a safe place like the Launch Pad,” said Jackson, 35, adding he had no criminal record until a downward drug and alcohol spiral started several years ago.
He’s been homeless, kicked out of every shelter in the city for his violent behaviour, and was charged 36 times for a myriad of crimes. Asked how Launch Pad is helping him turn the corner, he said: “I don’t want to sound like a Bible thumper, but I believe Jesus had a lot to do with it.”
The Center is Christian-based, but residents told the Star they feel no pressure to embrace the faith. Button emphasized his Center wants to help everyone recover, no matter what their beliefs. The programs offered range from faithbased to secular.
“I don’t know where I’d be without this place, honestly, probably wandering around, getting high,” said Warren, a resident who requested his surname not be used.
Going back on the street would be a death sentence, he said. “Fentanyl is killing everybody.” He said Launch Pad is a perfect name for the Center.
“That’s exactly what it is, a launch pad to get your life back.”
Rob Sandwith started at the Center seven months ago, and he’s now running the Ouellette location.
“That’s a big accomplishment in my life,” said Sandwith.
In the previous five years, he hadn’t been out of jail longer than 21 days at a time. He said he’s had over 100 convictions and has been arrested about 40 times for crimes committed to feed his habit. Though the Center is Christian-based, what most attracted Sandwith was that Button “gave me an option — whatever (approach) will get you there.”
The days are structured so residents are busy with appointments, meetings, searching for jobs and other activities. No one goes outside the building alone — they pair up. They pay $500 a month for rent, which usually comes from government cheques like Ontario Works or disability benefits.
“You can’t get your life back together if you’re on the street,” said Sandwith. “You need warmth, you need safety, you need food.”
Button is described by some observers as “a force of nature.” He describes the addiction epidemic as a war that’s taking lives daily.
“He’s a little bit hard on the guys, but you know, I’ve seen a lot of success stories,” said Roger Fordham, program coordinator for Feeding Windsor.
Button’s Center, he said, fills a niche for people who can’t afford to wait months to get into a treatment program.
“It catches people when they’re sick of being sick, tired of being tired, and gives them a room, a place to take a shower, and John will work things out,” said Fordham. “That’s your best chance if you’re just getting out of jail or at the Downtown Mission and you want to get recovery. It’s your best chance in the city.”
The Center, which has $16,000 in monthly costs, most of it going for rent, relies on donations to operate. But Button, who hopes to secure a new building with 35 additional beds, said costs of addiction on society are staggering.
Another recovering addict, Chris, said he was lucky that Button allowed him into the downtown home while he waited a few weeks for a space to open up in a treatment facility in North Bay. Otherwise, he’d have been homeless.
“It’s rough out there man,” he said. “A lot of drugs around and a stressful environment. I was afraid I’d use again.”
To reach Launch Pad, go online to launchpadrecovery.org.