Mike Haertel in front of his supportive housing home at Genesis Place on Fortune Drive in Kamloops.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

Mike Haertel walks slowly with a limp and greets housing staff with friendly nods and jokes before taking a seat in a quiet, brightly lit common room. Bobbing his knee up and down, he begins to open up about his year’s long battle with hard drug addiction, and his fight for sobriety.

His voice is gruff and occasionally he tears up, wiping his eyes with his hands. 

“I wanna be a difference maker,” he said. “I want my experience to stick with somebody, even in one person’s life.”

Haertel grew up in Kamloops and graduated from the culinary program at Thompson Rivers University before moving to Vancouver to work in the restaurant industry. His drug and alcohol use started at a young age.

“At twelve I was a stick boy for the Kamloops Blazers hanging out with 20-year-olds, going on trips with the team,” he said. “There was a lot of drinking and parties and I never avoided it. At 13, I was smoking marijuana. I never realized it was a problem back then.”

Haertel moved to hard drug use during his time in the restaurant industry. He was working a lot, earning just enough to get by on while sharing an apartment with a friend. He said he enjoyed the first decade.

“I worked at high end clubs, it’s a high risk lifestyle and I had no will power,” he said. “I loved the adrenaline, I loved to party and I couldn’t get out of it, I couldn’t stop and it became the norm.”

When his senior parents in Vancouver got sick, he moved in with them rent free to take care of them, but his addiction continued to get worse. He said he ignored it and kept working to support his habit.

“I was trying to take care of my parents in a one-bedroom apartment and was heavily addicted to crack cocaine. It controlled my life, everything about me. I let down my parents, put them in danger, and lost all my friends.”

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Haertel’s parents were moved into care homes and he moved back to Kamloops. His brother gave him a place to stay but kicked him out the next day because of the drug use. He got a place to stay with an old hockey coach and the outcome was the same. He got a job at a pub and fell back into working and using.

Fed up with the cycle, Haertel went to the hospital for help where he accessed Interior Health resources as an outpatient.

“The first step is to check-in and detox,” he said. “Then I had to go to workshops on addiction every afternoon, your attendance is taken. There are full-time programs you can register for, you have to stay clean and sober.”

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For the next three months, “things were going good.” Haertel was attending the workshops and sharing a place with an elderly couple, until he relapsed and ended up in the psych ward at the hospital.

“I was suicidal,” he said. “I lost my place, I was homeless, I ended up in detox and that was it, I knew I was ready to make a change. Luckily I got into the men’s recovery program at the Mustard Seed, there was one bed left, and I dedicated my life to recovery.”

Haertel said those in recovery can be put on a waiting list for housing through Interior Health, but he felt he needed to live in a treatment centre.

“There are waiting lists to get into treatment but they’re not that long as a rule, these are usually live-in centers where you’re housed, fed and necessities paid for,” he said. “You have to be approved for government subsidy. The men’s recovery program cost me $1,200 a month with $220 left for spending money.”

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He joined a Narcotics Anonymous program and got a sponsor, then attended meetings. Slowly he began building a structured life and got his finances in order. But two weeks before reaching one year clean of drug use, Haertel again had a relapse. He said the Mustard Seed kept him on because of otherwise good progress but he wasn’t happy there and needed more supports.

He went through the registry board and qualified for supportive housing at Genesis House, moving in April 2022.

“I was really excited, it was a life changer for me to get to the point in my recovery to have my own place where I’m supported,” he said. “We get treated well here, the people here have your back and are compassionate. I can now focus on what I need to focus on. It’s an opportunity to climb the mountain.”

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Haertel hasn’t used drugs for three years now, and points to two important factors for his recovery; serious commitment and a lot of hard work. He said the resources are there but they aren’t handed out freely, it takes work to access them.

“The bottom line is with any addict, if you want to get clean, you’ll get clean, if you’re not willing to put in the work, it’s not gonna happen,” he said. “You have to show up to the workshops, show you’re serious, follow the program. Ask for help, go to the meetings, get the sponsor. You have to work for recovery every day." 

Haertel is currently exercising and doing more self-work. He attends church three times a week, including a recovery bible study, and has connected with supportive people in the community. He aspires to move into regular housing, get a career going and maybe even have a family.

His dream is to be a motivational speaker, with a big goal to share his story to young people in schools.

“I think if you talk to them about addiction when they’re young it’ll plant a seed and I believe it’ll go a long way,” he said. “There’s a lot of young people doing dope, it’s scary to see what it’s doing to people. If we educate youth early, well that’s something I’d love to do.”

Haertel credits his sobriety to good friends, community resources, the church community, and staff at the supportive housing facility.

“There’s a certain standard I have to maintain for the rest of my life. I have to be self-aware, honest with myself and deal with it. A lot don’t want help and that’s unfortunate and that’s their choice. I wasn’t afraid to ask for help.”

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