Ordinary Courage with Vanisha Breault

In this episode of Ordinary Courage I talk about rigorous honesty, the power of being rigorously honest in our lives and our stories and the gift and ability to have new beginnings. 
I recorded this episode at 11:00pm on Tuesday night, so it's raw...there is no intro or outro music:) I'm just not that technically advanced on my own yet (I'll maybe get Sylvester to fix it up for me afterwards) 
It's just showing up, raw, as is. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you find at least one nugget to pull out for yourself.

Take care you guys:) 
Love,
V~ 

On today's episode, Agnes and I discuss her personal story of growing up in a home with addiction and trauma, the impact that this left on her and her journey of healing, hope and helping others find their way through similar stories. 


Agnes Chen is a Registered Nurse at the Calgary not- for-profit Calgary Urban project society (Cups),who has 15 years of professional experience in the public service sector working to enhance the well-being and resilience of her clients and community, many of who struggle with mental illness, addictions, and poverty. As an active member of the Trauma Informed Care Collective, she is also passionate about promoting empathy and co-creating resilient and trauma-informed communities.  Her personal experience of growing up in a home where the chaos of mental illness and alcohol addiction existed, allowed her to not only personally experience the all encompassing negative effects addictions can have on a family unit over multiple generations, but also the need for more empathy and understanding towards those struggling with its effects. After struggling personally with depression, she started a grassroots initiative called Starling Community where she is passionate about growing our city with an empathetic understanding of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the need for a community that believes in and supports the POTENTIAL in every single child (child-in-them) putting the cycle of RESILIENCE, instead of trauma, on repeat. Because supported kids become resilient communities who are ABLE to support kids! 

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Brain Story: https://www.albertafamilywellness.org/training

Becoming Trauma Aware

https://calgarycac.ca/education/being-trauma-aware/

ACEs study: 

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/index.html

Trauma Informed Care Collective Website:

https://ticcollective.ca

️Instagram: starling_community

Twitter: @starlingsmetowe

Website: www.starlings.ca

In this episode of Ordinary Courage Dr. Monty Ghosh discusses the crisis of addiction and  COVID-19 and the impact that these two have had on each other and our community.
There are tips for how to cope with pre-existing addiction/substance use disorders and how to manage through the COVID crisis.

Links & Information from the Episode. 
Relapse rates for opioids is 90%.

Relapse rate after opioid detoxification ranges from 72 to 88% after 12–36 months, despite multidisciplinary endeavors, though a six-month controlled study has shown lower relapse rate (32–70%) [1, 2].  Link:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5046044/

Rapid Access Addiction Medicine  (RAAM) & Adult Addiction Services Calgary 

https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/findhealth/Service.aspx?id=1080798&serviceAtFacilityID=1126612

In August of 2019 Shawna brought home a little bundle of joy, a baby girl named Arielle. The only thing was, this sweet baby girl was her granddaughter.

Shawna's own daughter, Kenedee had been fighting a battle with Fentanyl since she was 17 years old, which after years of struggling, bouts of sobriety followed by relapse after relapse Kenedee found herself pregnant and in active addiction.
This warrior mother and now grandmother shares her story of courage, hope, love and selflessness.

 Listen in as we take you through the trenches of addiction in the family and the many ways we recover while we hold out hope for our loved ones still struggling, to join us.

Shawna lives in Airdrie, Alberta and facilitates HERE TOGETHER,  a Support Group for parents and families struggling to cope and/or looking for support in dealing with a loved ones addiction/substance use disorder.
For more Information Please Contact Shawna Directly:
Heretogether.ca
[email protected]

This episode of Ordinary Courage is for the purpose of AWARENESS  of this urgent and prevalent issue. We need to do more and we need to do better. Please help us get the word out by sharing this episode with everyone you know.
#ihaveaname is not about the most up to date statistics it's about people, this hits closer to home than we think.

In this episode we have Executive Director, Theresa Jenkins of Reset Society of Calgary, a local agency here in Calgary Alberta that work with survivors of Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking. Reset is the only comprehensive system of services in Alberta designed specifically for women who are survivors of sexual exploitation. It is also the only agency that will support women with their children. 

Also joining us is Detective Paul Rubner. In his over 28 year career with the Calgary Police, Det. Rubner has spent over 11 of those years working in the Human Trafficking Counter Exploitation Unit. Det. Rubner has been directly involved in the apprehension of over 220 sexually exploited youth and is a provincially recognized expert in the area of youth sexual exploitation.
WARNING EXPLICIT CONTENT!

To DONATE or get more info, click their website link!
https://resetcalgary.ca/

Please Join Reset and Follow Them on Social Media!
https://twitter.com/RESETCalgary
https://www.instagram.com/resetcalgary/
https://ca.linkedin.com/company/resetcalgary

Calgary Police Non Emergency 403-266-1234
Counter Exploitation Unit (not answered but messages returned) 403-428-8585
Email-  [email protected] 

In this episode, Earl and I discuss how he went from immense trauma, homelessness and addiction to becoming the Executive Director of Oxford House Foundation of Canada, an addiction housing center in Calgary, Alberta.

WARNING EXPLICIT CONTENT

Want more Information on Oxford House or to follow Earl, click the links below:
https://oxfordhouse.ca/
https://twitter.com/EarlThiessen


Follow Vanisha on Instagram or visit her website:
https://www.instagram.com/vanishabreault/
https://vanishabreault.com/

Subscribe to the Ordinary Courage Podcast!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-courage-with-vanisha-breault/id1524865137

I don't know what it is about recovery that can connect two total strangers instantaneously after discovering you are both trudging that happy road of destiny. But that is exactly what happened when I met Tony McGrath several months back at a Conference we were both speaking at.
It's that instant connection and relate-ability. It's an unexpressed understanding without even knowing the story...but you know the story.

I'm thrilled and honored to have Tony as a guest on this podcast/episode, so get comfortable and listen in as Tony for the FIRST TIME outside of the 12 step rooms opens up about his story- his engagement to alcohol (as he puts it) the relationship he had with alcohol that spanned a few decades and his eventual breakup and new found freedom in recovery. His journey is hilarious, witty, provoking, messy and beautiful all rolled into one great episode!

Follow Tony on Instagram @tonymcgrathyyc  to stay up to date with life in the fast lane:) 
Stay connected with Vanisha on Instagram @vanishabreault 
Website: www.vanishabreault.com 
Podcasts found on: Apple & Spotify Podcasts 

Lindsey Witzel, remembering Ryan, a brother, a son, a friend. Lindsey shares her memories as a child with her older brother, the bond that only they shared, the protection, love and admiration she felt for her only sibling. 
Family, friends and Hockey were Ryan's first loves with dreams of being drafted into the NHL, Ryan devoted his time to the sport he believed would be his life and his future. 
Lindsey shares how the loss of this dream would mark the beginning for Ryan, taking him on a 17 year battle with addiction that would in the end cost him his life and the powerful messages of love & hope that Ryan's struggles gave to the family that love him the most. 

 To connect with Lindsey follow her on Instagram @lindsey_dawns 
Lindsey is also the Co-owner of Versa Movement Collective Physiotherapy - IG account Versa MC 

To connect with Vanisha follow her on Instagram  @vanishabreault 
Terminator Foundation @terminatorfoundation 

In today's solo episode, seeing as it's only our second time together I thought I would begin our "Evergreen" episodes. I actually learned about Evergreen Content while recording this episode as I was anxiously thinking I needed to cram my life story into a one-hour podcast. HAHA :)

In this episode I share my personal journey beginning with some of my first childhood memories and experiences. I talk about my very first memories as a child of domestic violence and then later on the sexual abuse trauma- it's a bit heavy, messy and literally right in the middle of it I had an urge to edit out a good chunk of it; but after taking a deep breath I pressed on. 

The theme I hope you take away is that there is hope. We can make it through the mess. 
I like this "Evergreen" theme as it also signifies life and no matter what season we're in the Evergreen is always green. 

*WARNING Sensitive Content. 

To follow Vanisha connect with her on Instagram @vanishabreault

The inaugural podcast will feature Vanisha’s daughters, Carissa and Eden. At a young age, Carissa was sexually abused by her stepfather. Eden was raped and sexually exploited while homeless and addicted on the streets of Calgary. “The conversation was not easy, but necessary”, says Breault. “I’m proud of my daughters for the strong women they’ve become, and for their courage to show vulnerability in the face of so much pain. This will be the start of many inspiring conversations that we hope will bring a compassionate view to the struggles many of us face.”


To follow Carissa connect with her on Instagram @carissapeterson 
To follow Eden connect with her on Instagram @edenjoylal

To connect with Vanisha IG @vanishabreault 
Terminator Foundation @terminatorfoundation