Chris had been moved around to six foster homes by the time he was 4, at which point he was sent to a US family for 11 years. By the time he got back to Vancouver Island at age 15, a hard life was pretty much a guarantee, especially when the government handed him $4,500 as restitution for being a Canadian Indigenous child sent to foster care in the States. “With all that money, I just jumped into doing what everyone was doing – alcohol, drugs, then T3s after I got hit by a car at 23. I was doing 30 a day. And when the pills ran out, there was heroin.” Homelessness, time in prison, three times through treatment – the hard life kept getting harder. But then Chris landed stable housing nine years ago, and got on methadone. It gave him space to get his head and heart straight, and connect with his son. He’s now hoping for another go at treatment, to see if he can’t leave the opioids behind for good. “Methadone has its ups and downs, but it keeps you unsick for the most part. Realistically, being housed and on methadone is probably why I’m still alive. Ninety per cent of everyone I knew are gone now.”