Pete de Jong is a Calgary real estate agent, but beyond his professional life, it’s what he does in his personal life that’s making a difference.
“I go to intersections where people panhandle and I offer them socks. I don’t give them money. I don’t want to buy them that last hit that kills them, but over time I get to know them and will walk them through the process of getting clean and off the streets when they’re ready,” de Jong said.
“We all have weaknesses and points where we fall down. I try to love on them the way I think we should.”
He was particularly drawn to Paul Bateman, a man who was addicted to drugs and panhandling for spare change to get by. He noticed Bateman wanted something to change in his life and over time, the two developed a special friendship.
Part of that connection was helping Bateman get clean.
“I’ve been doing this for years and it’s the most frustrating thing — people make promises to go to detox and then they don’t,” de Jong said. “But the odd time when you see someone like Paul say, ‘I’m done’ and mean it, it’s super exciting.”
“I had two choices: I could be dead, and my other choice was to use drugs and that’s what I did,” Bateman said.
“Over time I realized I don’t want that to be my legacy.
“I didn’t want that written on my gravestone that Paul died an addict.”
Countless times he said he rescued friends from near overdoses and wanted to do things differently.
“Instead of saving people’s lives that way, maybe there was another way of doing it,” Bateman said.
The recovery team at Calgary’s Dream Centre got him into treatment. Craig Dowd is the intake coordinator who met Bateman the day he arrived.
“When Paul came in, he was broken and facing life or death,” Dowd said.
Dowd overcame his own addictions and knows there are growing numbers in need and not enough spaces.
“Not everyone has another recovery in them but they do have a relapse, and I see people go and not come back. I haven’t seen numbers like this ever. It’s heartbreaking to watch but there is hope,” Dowd said.
“I believe that’s the only way to recover, is by giving back and living life with purpose and I am so proud of Paul.”
Bateman hopes his story proves recovery is real. He was addicted for nearly 40 years.
“You don’t change the universe, you change your piece of the world and if everyone made their piece better, the whole universe gets better,” Bateman said.
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