'WE'RE SEEING CHANGED LIVES RIGHT IN FRONT OF US'

Thomas Albion stepped carefully as he fed the chickens that clucked
at his steel-toed boots.

"These are my buddies," he said, with a large grin on his face.

He cares for the fowl, but six months ago his lifestyle was foul. He
slept on concrete. Snorted cocaine. Injected heroin. The drug didn't
matter, as long as it changed the way he felt.

But after five years on the streets of Victoria, he stopped feeling.
He forgot what it was like to care for others, for himself.

"I just wanted to be a junkie for the rest of my life," the
36-year-old said. "I was giving up."

His liver did, too. His housing was public, literally a crawl space
in front of City Hall. A cocaine-induced psychosis sent him to a
psychiatric ward for a week.

He'd hit rock bottom and was begging for a positive change.

Two days out of hospital, he read a story in the Times Colonist about
Hope Farm Healing Centre, a new program for recovering male addicts
to rebuild their lives in a rural setting, which started accepting
residents in late fall.

Albion wanted in and off the streets.

The 36-acre farm in North Cowichan is hosting its first three
residents and Albion is one. For more than 10 years, Hope Farm was
just a good thought in the minds of staff at The Mustard Seed Street
Church but now the program is planted.

"We're seeing changed lives right in front of us," said Rev. Chris
Riddell, pastor at The Mustard Seed and director of Hope Farm.
"Thomas had no hope in his eyes, now he's a different human being."

Albion started drinking at 15, moving on to marijuana and LSD. By 20,
he was into cocaine.

"My whole focus was to get my next fix," he said, but now it's
different. "Just being the person I was meant to be, that's my focus."

The program aims to develop physical, emotional and spiritual
well-being through study, prayer, farm work and counselling, said
Pierre Leroux, resident manager of Hope Farm. "It's one thing to quit
and it's one thing to stay quit."

Residents start their day at 6 a.m. with breakfast, devotional time
and a three-to five-kilometre walk. After lunch, they do farm work.
They tend to three cattle, 98 chickens and four sheep. The farm sells
some of its produce, but plans to donate most of it to food banks.
They've already sold $20,000 worth of hay and a sign at the driveway
advertises eggs for sale.

The goal is to return the farm back to it's original organic state,
Riddell said. "We want chemical-free people and chemical-free farming."

Evenings are spent in meetings, counselling sessions or listening to
guest speakers. There is also some free time before lights out at 10
p.m. Residents also attend a weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting,
spend Saturdays doing outdoor activities and go to church on Sundays.

Residents went through three rigorous interviews. They're required to
have gone to a detox or rehab program, be sober for 30 days and make
a one-year commitment to the program.

They looked for motivated individuals, Ridell said, people who want
change in their lives and are willing to make the effort.

They're currently in the selection process for two more residents.

"Some days are rough," Albion said, adding that he wakes up at 5:30
a.m., looks out over the fields and thinks "one more day, one more day."

He's well-spoken and relaxed, but it has taken a lot of work. "It's
been so long since I've been a decent person."

He's had to relearn how to interact with people, deal with his
feelings and think about others.

"It took me awhile to become a full-fledged addict, its going to take
years to recover," he said. "I'm looking for what is ahead in life
rather than my next fix."