STREET CRED

Jill Lanz knows the drug culture in Red Deer better than a lot of
people in her position.

After all, she spent most of her teenage years addicted to opiates,
drifted from Vancouver to Red Deer and often living on the streets.

A high school dropout, for a long time she was not interested in
getting an education or getting clean.

Now five years after her brother encouraged her to get on a methadone
program, she is married and has earned a degree is social work from
Red Deer College.

She's also working for the same organization she once depended on for
clean needles.

An outreach worker with the Central Alberta AIDS Network Society
(CAANS), Lanz led a seminar Thursday as part of the Alberta Harm
Reduction Conference advising other former addicts and employers on
the benefits and struggles of being a former user turned service provider.

"I think I can understand things in a different way when it comes to
dealing with drug users," she said. "I have a different perspective
because I've actually been there."

Lanz said it's not uncommon for her to recognize the people coming to
her for help.

"Red Deer is a small town so it's not uncommon for me to see people at
CAANS that I know and used to use with," she said. "I remember seeing
a woman who used to be my dealer and being so nervous but all she said
was 'darling I am so proud of you.'"

Former users, she said, sometimes suffer from "survivors guilt" when
they start getting well and being successful.

"Here I am, I'm happy and I'm married and I'm doing well but the
people I see are not," she said. "It's important to learn how to be
proud without feeling guilty."

Lanz's boss Jennifer Vanderschaeghe said she ran out to the parking
lot interviewing Lanz to offer her the job.

"She can get father with people then other workers because she can
give them the truth and they sort of trust her more," Vanderschaeghe
said.

Vanderschaeghe also credits Lanz with encouraging more people to use
the society's services.

"I know it's cliche," she said. "But the fact is that Jill bring more
'street cred' to the organization and that I can't buy...I really
believe that more people are willing to use us because Jill works here."

Vanderschaeghe said she would recommend more service agencies hire
former clients.

"They really know what's going on and that is a valuable resource,"
she said.

Lanz told the group it's important that a former user turned employee
be supported but not necessarily singled out.

"I am not just the token former drug user, I am an employee, I have
the education, I work hard and am good at my job."