I was brought up with drugs, violence, manipulation and lying for as long as I can remember. When I was 11 or 12, I started using with my best friend and his mom. I would take pills or weed from my mom. She, her boyfriend and I were living in a one bedroom apartment. I witnessed my mom get hurt over money and drugs. I remember hating myself so much that I didn\u2019t go outside to avoid people seeing me. But when I was on drugs, I had the confidence to go out.<\/p>\n
What led me to call Portage or how I was referred<\/strong><\/h5>\nI was in another centre and I got kicked out because of a serious altercation. They referred me to Portage. But even after getting off codeine and Xanax, I decided to drink every night for a year. It was giving me a fake supply of confidence which led me to steal, lie and hurt people just to get booze (read The Treacherous Pitfalls of Drugs and Alcohol<\/a>).<\/p>\n![\"I](\"https:\/\/portage.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/alkoghol-2714482__340-300x200.jpg\")
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But even after getting off codeine and Xanax, I decided to drink every night for a year. It was giving me a fake supply of confidence which led me to steal, lie and hurt people just to get booze.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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My first days at Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\nWhen I finally came to Portage, I was a liar, a cheat and I was seeking attention and acceptance from everyone around me. I hated being called on my faults, I had a horrible lack of confidence and I felt like I needed to prove myself to everyone.<\/p>\n
How long I\u2019ve been at Portage and what has changed<\/strong><\/h5>\nI have been at Portage for six months and everything changed. My confidence is better. I admitted all my faults and lies I have told throughout the program and before. I found things I actually like to do: painting, drawing, rapping, sports and helping others. I learned how to cope with my anger and how to avoid violence and conflicts. My relationship with my grandmother has changed completely. I learned how to make new friends without trying to impress them. I know how to live a happy life and I want to! Most importantly, I found myself and I am happy with who I am.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"soldier-708711__340\"](\"https:\/\/portage.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/soldier-708711__340-300x192.jpg\")
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My plan is to finish my schooling and go into the military. When I\u2019m 18, I hope to better my relationship with my mom if we both stay sober.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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How I see the future after completing the program<\/strong><\/h5>\nMy plan is to finish my schooling and go into the military. When I\u2019m 18, I hope to better my relationship with my mom if we both stay sober.<\/p>\n
Finally, where I think I would be without Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\nI wouldn\u2019t be myself.<\/p>\n
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Gavin, resident at Portage Ontario<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before Portage (How I started taking drugs\/alcohol and why) I was brought up with drugs, violence, manipulation and lying for as long as I can remember. When I was 11 or 12, I started using with my best friend and his mom. I would take pills or weed from my mom. She, her boyfriend… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":19521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[153,364],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-testimonial"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44486,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519\/revisions\/44486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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But even after getting off codeine and Xanax, I decided to drink every night for a year. It was giving me a fake supply of confidence which led me to steal, lie and hurt people just to get booze.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I finally came to Portage, I was a liar, a cheat and I was seeking attention and acceptance from everyone around me. I hated being called on my faults, I had a horrible lack of confidence and I felt like I needed to prove myself to everyone.<\/p>\n I have been at Portage for six months and everything changed. My confidence is better. I admitted all my faults and lies I have told throughout the program and before. I found things I actually like to do: painting, drawing, rapping, sports and helping others. I learned how to cope with my anger and how to avoid violence and conflicts. My relationship with my grandmother has changed completely. I learned how to make new friends without trying to impress them. I know how to live a happy life and I want to! Most importantly, I found myself and I am happy with who I am.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n My plan is to finish my schooling and go into the military. When I\u2019m 18, I hope to better my relationship with my mom if we both stay sober.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n My plan is to finish my schooling and go into the military. When I\u2019m 18, I hope to better my relationship with my mom if we both stay sober.<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t be myself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gavin, resident at Portage Ontario<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before Portage (How I started taking drugs\/alcohol and why) I was brought up with drugs, violence, manipulation and lying for as long as I can remember. When I was 11 or 12, I started using with my best friend and his mom. I would take pills or weed from my mom. She, her boyfriend… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":19521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[153,364],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-testimonial"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44486,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519\/revisions\/44486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}My first days at Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\n
How long I\u2019ve been at Portage and what has changed<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\nHow I see the future after completing the program<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Finally, where I think I would be without Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\n