A CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION

Four months ago, Roy Hall was jobless, homeless, addicted to crystal
meth and living in the bush in Surrey.

He was out of money and had lost touch with his dealer, forcing him
to struggle free of the drug alone.

If the divorced father of four and former marine engineer could have
imagined a rock bottom during happier times, this would have been it.

So when four Surrey RCMP officers strode into the abandoned Newton
lot where they had often visited Roy and his makeshift home, offering
to get him help for his addiction, he was sober and desperate enough to agree.

The 44-year-old walked out of the woods and into the RCMP's district
office where he was introduced to Const. Mike Williams. Roy was
enrolled in a pilot program called Project Redemption, which
fast-tracks street-level addicts through the detox and recovery process.

Williams secured a spot for Roy at the Paetzold Rehabilitation Centre
(Miracle Valley) -- a long-term treatment centre for recovering users
on a rural acreage in Mission.

As someone with multiple convictions for assault, robbery and
impaired driving, Roy had found support from an unlikely source.

"I've been on the other side of the law for the last few years. It's
kind of ironic they were the ones who steered me into the program."

With the last of the scabs common to crystal meth users healing on
his chin, Roy leans forward, elbows on his knees, on the back deck of
a transition home he shares with nine other men putting the pieces of
their lives together in a modest Abbotsford neighbourhood, and
reflects on the years he threw away chasing the highs and lows of
alcohol, cocaine and crystal meth.

"I think I'm basically addicted by nature. No matter what, when I get
into something I'm not one to take things halfway; I get right into it."

Roy's nervousness in sharing his story is betrayed only in a
persistent habit of clasping and unclasping his hands.

The first addiction was alcohol. He often got behind the wheel after
chugging a flat of beer or a 40-ouncer of rye, totalling numerous
cars in severe accidents. Incredibly, he hit only stationary objects
and injured only himself.

The breakup of his marriage plunged Roy further into addiction as he
adopted a transient lifestyle, bouncing between jobs in B.C., Alberta
and Ontario. He gave up the bottle when a fourth impaired charge
resulted in a six-month prison term in 1994.

But he soon started smoking cocaine, which burned up every dollar of
the hefty paycheques earned doing roofing, framing, drywall and concrete work.

And in 2004, his cocaine addiction gave way to an all-consuming
enslavement to crystal meth.

For the last two years, Roy lived without a home and without
identification in Surrey, before four police officers came in search
of him in January.

Now that drugs no longer numb Roy to his past, he is beginning to
face the wreckage of a life plagued by addiction -- a failed
marriage, a long-term girlfriend and fellow addict lost to
prostitution, and four estranged adult children.

But if Roy feels bitterness about the time he has wasted, he doesn't
dwell on it.

He's lucky, and knows it. Police officers looked beyond his criminal
past to help him get clean. He's also disease-free.

"It feels really good to be able to start all over again."

Roy is currently trying to get his driver's licence back, find a job,
and move out on his own.

If construction work doesn't come quickly, Roy may re-enlist with the
navy and go out to sea, leaving the temptations of his previous life
on dry land.

Once his feet are firmly planted on the ground, he also hopes to
reconnect with his children.

For now, he is focused on staying sober.

"I pray I'm going to be able to stay with it and I won't go back.

"I've been involved in it enough that when you cycle back, it's
always worse. I don't know if I could come back again if I fall into
another hard-core addiction."

Roy has been clean for 113 days and counting.

For now, he is winning.

On most days, Const. Mike Williams climbs into an unmarked police car
and drives to the businesses, vacant lots and wooded areas in Newton
where drug addicts are known to gather.

But he isn't out to make a collar; he is out to save a life.

Williams is one of six Newton RCMP officers involved with Project
Redemption, initiated last August out of officers' frustration seeing
the same drug abusers week after week. The officers knew that
arresting addicts or chasing them into another neighbourhood wasn't a solution.

Thanks to a partnership with Surrey Salvation Army Major Russ
Holland, Project Redemption has a detox bed at Vancouver's Cordova
Centre available for drug users.

If addicts are willing, officers drive them directly to the Vancouver
detox centre, bypassing red tape and the waiting game, as well as
eliminating the excuses for not entering treatment.

Male addicts can get further help with recovery at the Army's
Paetzold Rehabilitation Centre (Miracle Valley), a long-term drug
recovery retreat in Mission which offers a 90-day addiction recovery
program, on-site medical care and recreational opportunities.

Gaining the trust of street addicts was a challenge in Project
Redemption's early days. The first participant in the program was
labelled a rat by the other recovering addicts at Cordova due to his
relationship with Mounties.

But the Surrey RCMP have now ushered a dozen addicts through the
detox process, including three who have opted for further treatment
at Miracle Valley.

Yet, Project Redemption couldn't have happened without leaning on
services in other cities, as detox beds and transitional housing have
only just opened in Surrey this month.

"We've sort of had to beg, plead and steal to get what we needed,"
added Williams.

Creekside Withdrawal Management Centre on 94 A Avenue now houses 30
beds for adult and youth with drug and alcohol dependencies. Just
down the street, Phoenix Centre includes 26 detox beds as well as 30
units of long-term transitional housing.

Six months in, local addicts have grown accustomed to Williams'
constant invitation for a clean start as he greets users by name on
his frequent rounds through Newton's more troubled areas. While some
will remain lost in the fog of drugs, others will try to find their way out.

"They may never go, they may go after I ask them 50 times," said Williams.

- - For information about Project Redemption, phone the RCMP's Newton
office, 604-502-6233.