SASKATOON – Gangs are commonly defined as groups of people organizing or engaging in criminal activity. Jorgina Sunn, a former Alberta gang member goes by a different definition.
Having seen it all too well from the inside, she says being in a gang meant living in fear every day.
“You sort of start to wonder … ‘I don’t know if I’m going to make it out of here,” said Sunn. “You add alcohol, you add weapons, you add people’s personal trauma and it’s terrifying.”
“It’s absolutely terrifying.”
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Sunn says there wasn’t just one reason for joining a gang. She was looking for a sense of identity all while trying to cope with the past.
Having suffered from sexual abuse, she started battling with addiction and quickly, Sunn says the substances in her life became her liquid courage.
“It ranged anywhere from pot to pills to cocaine to downers. I was able to have a relief from thinking and obsessing and replaying all the events that had happened to me,” she said.
Sunn came close to ending her life, which is when she knew she had to make a change. She moved to Saskatoon and eventually got in touch with STR8 UP, an organization that offers support to ex-gang members in the city.
“They’ve known that lifestyle for so many years. And you can’t just flip on a switch or flip off a switch and say ‘I’m going to stop doing what I’ve known for a number of years,'” said STR8 UP executive director Alex Munoz.
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The no judgment policy program works with people for four years, slowly working towards recovery.
Today, Sunn works closely with young people in the community through organizations like STR8 UP. She’s looking forward to a music album and she was recently awarded the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Aboriginal Order of Canada.
“If you are struggling and you don’t feel like there’s a way, there absolutely is a way. There absolutely is help out there.”
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