Derrick Point is all too familiar with poverty, addiction and pain.
He was abused in residential school, began drinking at a young age and eventually ended up homeless. But the Chilliwack man is now sharing his story leading up to a fundraiser for the charity that helped him turn his life around.
On Sept. 21, Point will be cycling in Ride For RAN, a fundraiser which supports Ruth and Naomi’s Mission in Chilliwack. He sought help from them after decades of trying to numb his pain with drugs and alcohol.
Point, 63, grew up poor and mistreated in a family of nine kids.
"I didn't know what poverty was and I never knew what it meant," he said.
He thought having tattered clothes and holes in his socks was normal. His late mother used to knit sweaters for his brothers and sisters, but not for him.
"I've never, ever gotten a sweater," he said. "I knew what it was like to not get nothing and watching the others get things."
Some of his siblings went to residential school with him, while others did not. He experienced physical and sexual abuse there. Point started drinking whenever he would come home for Easter break or Christmas with his siblings, and even during school he'd sneak out with his friends to drink.
"I'd go out of my way to get my hands on alcohol. It was something I'd use to numb my feelings about being at that place."
He came home from residential school around the age of 12 and years later, with no one to turn to, he ended up homeless and on the streets. He eventually turned to heroin.
"I was terribly into the drugs. It was one of the worst things… they call it the devil's potion."
He had suicidal thoughts and tried to find a way out. He would mix drugs together, but it didn't work.
His family found out what he was doing and they told him to "smarten up" and "get your act together," he recalled.
Point didn't want to be lectured and didn't want to be helped. He had a very negative attitude.
It took years of living on the streets and drowning in a toxic environment before he decided to seek help. He remembers pushing his shopping cart one day with all of his valuables in it and thinking "I got to get off this damn street. I need to do something."
He heard about Ruth and Naomi's and took advantage of their free breakfast and lunch meals. He ended up working in the kitchen, staying in the overnight shelter, and getting to know the staff well.
"I noticed the staff members… they treat you like a person."
Point respected the staff and treated them like friends, and got the same in return.
Later, he inquired about getting a spot in the Addiction Recovery Program (then called Oasis). There were some stepping stones to get into the program, and Point was successful.
He began treatment at the beginning of the pandemic. Months went by when he got COVID-19 – it hit him harder than most. Point was hospitalized and on life support.
"They told us you were never coming home," said Cheryl Giesbrecht with Ruth and Naomi's, looking at Point. "They said 'Do not keep the bed for him, he is never coming back.'"
Point had COVID for six months. He did go back to the program, but since it had been so long, it was like starting from square one.
When he began, the program was inside the Ruth and Naomi's facility on Margaret Avenue on the upper floor. Down at street level is where the homeless would come for free meals so Point was still surrounded by addicts and open drug use taking place right outside the facility, making it that much more difficult to stay focused on his recovery.
When the program moved to the former Travelodge Hotel, he was relieved. It's there that Point graduated from the Addiction Recovery Program back in June 2023. He now lives in the building, which is also home to Interchange Supportive Housing, where he has his own room.
Point works at a lumber mill and also as a landscaper at Skowkale First Nation, which pays for his subsidized rent and other expenses like dinner (breakfast and lunch are free).
Even though he's finished the program, he still stays in touch with Kevin Slingerland, former manager of the men's recovery program. Point said he doesn't know where he'd be if it weren't for Slingerland.
"I really don't want this program to end," Point recalled saying to Slingerland. "Can we just keep going? Can we still do one-on-ones?' He said, 'Yeah, sure.'"
He writes in his journal every day, something he started with Slingerland, which helps him cope with his day-to-day life.
He's now healthy and happy and people are noticing. When he sees folks on the streets that he knows, he'll hear them say "How come Derrick is so healthy?" Point said with a smile.
He rides his bike regularly – something he does to keep his lungs healthy as he still feels the effects of COVID – and will be pedalling it along the 20-kilometre route during Ride For RAN on Sept. 21. It'll be his third time taking part in the fundraiser.
"I'm not doing it just for me. It's for the people that went through what I went through… for the people that want to get into recovery."
Ride For RAN, a cycling fundraiser for Ruth and Naomi's Mission in Chilliwack is Saturday, Sept. 21 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with staggered start times. It's at Fairfield Park this year (46219 Clare Ave.) due to closures on the Vedder Rotary Trail. There are different ride lengths: family ride, mid-length and long ride.
This year's goal is $100,000 which will support their continuum of care, from emergency shelter to permanent housing. Funds allow them to provide essential services, meals, and housing solutions to those in need.
For more, and to register, go to ranmission.ca/events.
