It wasn’t too long ago that Cody Bates was sitting in a prison cell.
The former drug dealer was serving a sentence for manslaughter in the death of a rival.
But his life has taken a complete turn since.
After fighting off a cocaine addiction twice, Bates is now focusing his energy on helping those in a similar situation as he once was.
He says despite looking for help, no counsellor was really able to get to him.
“I’ve had so many suit and ties tell me in my addiction what I need to do. And they’ve never smoked crack, they’ve never done coke. What they’re saying was falling on deaf ears because they just didn’t understand. They didn’t know me,” he said.
Bates is finishing up his first Christmas on Hastings Project – a way for him to give back to those on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
He attributes his newfound faith to the reasons behind the project – a 10 day journey through the Downtown Eastside to help as many people as he can.
He wanted to start in Canada’s poorest postal code because that’s where he felt he could do the most to raise people’s spirits and try to get them away from drug use.
Bates said most don’t show empathy to drug users, and because he’s been in a similar situation.
“When you’re so lost in pain and it’s the only thing,” he said. “When you’re in survival mode like I was, pain is the only thing that’s in front of you. Any kind of long-term consideration of consequences is completely nullified.”
Bates said he’s served food to about 600 people in his first eight days in the neighbourhood and he’s looking forward to doing the same next Christmas.