Stories

An open letter to her defense counsel and prosecution

Going to the remand center for a couple of months was the reality check I needed. I really believe it saved my life. It caused me to get sober long enough to look at the mess I created in my life and realize that I couldn’t run from myself anymore. I knew I was going to die doing what I was doing and my mind was finally clear enough for me to make the decision to change things.

I really believe that God brought the Narrow Road Home into my life at the exact right moment I needed. I thought I was going to spend the next few years in jail and that my life was hopeless and I ran out of time to fix it. I didn’t understand who God was at the time, but now I see that he has always been with me. During the past year I’ve learned to forgive myself and others who have hurt me and to let go of my past. I can cope with my feelings and stress in a healthy way that doesn’t involve chaos or drugs. God has really blessed me and I see it the most in my family. My relationships with both of my parents have been restored in a way I never thought was possible. I’m so grateful for them for sticking by my side and supporting me through my treatment process despite all of the chaos and hardships I’ve put them through.

I’ve hurt a lot of people through my choices during my addiction. I am filled with remorse about the things I did.


I am so sorry for everyone that was a casualty to my destructive behaviour. I don’t deserve the mercy and kindness that has been shown to me during this court process. I am so grateful to have another chance to get my life back.

Narrow Road has a Creperie restaurant which we all volunteer at to gain job experience and life skills. I love being there, I get the opportunity to be creative in making different things for the drink and food menu and I learn so much from the other volunteers. Through the Creperie I have really discovered a passion for cooking and most of all gardening. For the last two months I have been volunteering at a greenhouse that Narrow Road is partnering with to learn more about hydroponics.

Narrow Road is planning on getting a greenhouse for the Creperie to grow what we need instead of buying produce so that we can work towards being more self sustainable. It is something I am really looking forward to being a part of. I have completed my GED this year with a 92% average and I plan to go into university for botany and permaculture courses in the future. I really believe that the future of agriculture needs to be focused around permaculture and stopping fertilizers and other chemicals in order to bring back our healthy ecosystems and nutrients in our food. I believe most of the health problems in North America today are caused by poor nutrition and chemicals found in our food. I want to learn how I can be part of the solution.

I plan to stay at the Narrow Road Home and work in the greenhouse and the Creperie for another year before I look into going to university. Right now my heart is here at the Narrow Road. Everyday I am inspired by the girls in the program and I want to invest my time here and give back. The staff here are amazing they are so patient and kind. I really believe in what this program does as it has changed my life and I have seen it change so many other girls’ lives as well.

I have so much support from the Narrow Road and from my family I am really excited for what the future will bring. I am so grateful for the legal team that has worked with me along this journey. Thank you for giving me another chance. You have made it possible for me to change my life and recognize my potential. You have given me the chance to have a relationship with God and my parents and friends that care about me. Thank you for your time and grace in this process.

Looking Ahead to a Bright Future After Overcoming a Dark Past

Going to the remand center for a couple of months was the reality check I needed. I really believe it saved my life. It caused me to get sober long enough to look at the mess I created in my life and realize that I couldn’t run from myself anymore. I knew I was going to die doing what I was doing and my mind was finally clear enough for me to make the decision to change things.

John 8:32 – Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

I came to The Narrow Road Home almost two years ago. I was desperate.

I was a deceived Christian, struggling with panic attacks.

I had been diagnosed as having Dissociative Identity Disorder, depression and other mental health issues. I was unable to function and I was unable to love. My heart was clogged with feelings of unforgiveness, pain, hurt and fear. I decided to leave my family and to seek help, I could no longer bear to continue to hurt them more.

At The Narrow Road Home I was able to reconnect with God and ultimately to reconnect with my true self. It has been because of the love, care, patience and protection that I received at The Narrow Road Home that I discovered that there was really nothing clinically wrong with me. I suffered from believing so many lies that I had accepted about myself, and about others. The biggest lie had been that I was worthless. I never truly felt that I was worth anything. This lie had greatly affected my relationship with God and my family.

My former diagnosis of mental illness and Dissociative Identity Disorder had become my identity. I struggled with relating to my family, my parents and the whole world around me.

The Narrow Road Home taught me to trust again, and to allow others to speak encouragement and correction into my life.

I know now that my true identity is in Christ and I realize that I am a beloved daughter of the King. The lies I once believed have been destroyed by truth.

Norma Laverdiere

Deceived by Lies, Restored by the Truth – Norma’s Story

John 8:32 – Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. I came to The Narrow Road Home almost two years ago. I was desperate. I was a deceived Christian, struggling with panic attacks. I had been diagnosed as having Dissociative Identity Disorder, depression and other mental health issues. I …

Deceived by Lies, Restored by the Truth – Norma’s Story Read More »

It’s never too late for anybody … I am 48, and my life has just begun,’ says recovering addict Lorraine Bruneau, who’s participating in an addiction treatment program at Narrow Road Home in High River along with her daughter, Melissa Bigstone.

Bruneau, who is from a First Nation in northern Alberta, shares her story of overcoming addictions and the relationship she now has with her daughter, thanks to the Narrow Road Home Women’s Recovery Centre in High River.

Growing up, Bruneau struggled with alcohol and drugs and suffered sexual abuse.”I struggled with rejection, abandonment and just hating men. I grew up with that and started to drink at an early age … then I had my children,” she said.

Bruneau saw her four children — one son and three daughters — taken into the foster care system because of her addictions.

“My children would be in foster care and I would fight so hard to get them back, and then I would relapse again. It has been a constant struggle,” she said. Bruneau wants to break the cycle of generational trauma within her family.

“Who parties with their children? I know there’s lots of them out there that do that but you know what, we don’t have to condemn ourselves anymore,” she said.

“We can learn how to surpass that and truly forgive ourselves. I’m setting an example of finally discovering what I have in me – and it’s like my identity.”

The Indigenous mother has been in the High River treatment program for over a year.

Bruneau lost two relatives, she says, which led her to return home to be with her family. That visit led to her daughter Melissa, wanting to get help as well. Bigstone, a young mother of two, joined her mother at the treatment program a month ago.

Bigstone said she was heavily into drug addiction and criminal activity over the past four years. The former youth worker said she would sell and use drugs along with her mother and her two sisters.

‘I wouldn’t be here if my mom wasn’t here, that’s for sure. I know a lot of generational trauma has to do with the way I was,” says Melissa Bigstone.

“I was the one in the family that kinda had my stuff together. It wasn’t until my kids were taken … that I fell on my face,” she said.

“It was just a negative cycle that we ended up in,” said the young mother.

Bigstone credits her mother for supporting her recovery journey.

Bigstone followed in her mother’s footsteps to join the treatment program and work toward recovery for her own children.

“I want to build on that role of being a mom … because my mom has done it,” she said.

Bigstone says it’s hard to be sad when there is so much hope for the future in this recovery experience with her mother.

The mother and daughter duo say thanks to the program, they are working together on a path of healing — hoping to inspire indigenous women to do the same, to be able to walk away from addiction, mental health crisis and family chaos.

The program was founded by executive director Kimberley Engbrecht, who describes her work as a life calling.

The facility offers customized transitional living programs for women struggling with mental health issues, addiction or domestic violence.

The in-house recovery program currently houses 14 women of all ages and backgrounds. Bruneau and Bigstone are among a number of Indigenous clients in the program.

“We as a staff want to walk alongside these women, right out of addiction, out of mental health crisis, out of family chaos and conflict into a life of empowerment and of restoration of relationships to a future that is full of hope and success,” said Engbrecht

Bruneau heard about the program from a pastor in Edmonton that she had been reaching out to for years, according to Engbrecht.

The founder made contact with Bruneau and arranged a ride for her from Edmonton to High River.

The executive director asked Bruneau if she was ready for long-term recovery and made the commitment to push the Indigenous mother toward self recovery with the help of her program

Engbrecht said that’s when the real journey began.

“You wouldn’t even recognize the woman that came in, who just couldn’t forgive herself, for being the kind of mother that she had been” said the program founder.

Established in 2014, Narrow Road Home Women’s Recovery Centre is a private treatment centre.

“We hope for our women, that their healing is complete, inside and out, ” Engbrecht said.

Narrow Road Home also gives opportunities to their clients to serve and volunteer at the Creperie and Coffee cafe in High River. All proceeds raised go toward helping the program to continue assisting women in recovery.

(Livia Manywounds/CBC)

Mother & Daughter Overcome Their Addictions Together!

It’s never too late for anybody … I am 48, and my life has just begun,’ says recovering addict Lorraine Bruneau, who’s participating in an addiction treatment program at Narrow Road Home in High River along with her daughter, Melissa Bigstone. Bruneau, who is from a First Nation in northern Alberta, shares her story of …

Mother & Daughter Overcome Their Addictions Together! Read More »

High River Online, Written by Cory Gialleonardo
https://www.highriveronline.com/local/head-chef-for-narrow-road-creperie-shares-her-story-struggles-and-newly-found-passion

The head chef at the Narrow Road Creperie & Co. In High River is sharing her story of recovery and finding meaning in life through her new found passion for cooking. Head Chef Krystal McQuaid says her time with the Narrow Road Home and the Creperie has helped positively transform her life.

“It’s just amazing how fast my change happened, how I could feel so broken and lost and transforming into someone I don’t even recognize sometimes.”

After struggling with addiction and serving time in jail, McQuaid says finding a community that supports wellness and recovery helped get her life back on track.

“I went through a really dark time in my life through addiction, my life spiraled out of control. It did end in going to jail for a period of time. So that made me really realize that I had to change my life. It had to happen in a lasting way and in a way that I could really find myself. After leaving jail, walking through the doors of the Narrow Road Home was really what I needed at that time. It really opened my eyes to what life should be all about.”

The Narrow Road Home launched it’s Creperie business in May 2018 and McQuaid says her involvement in that project helped her discover her new passion.

“It was so amazing to have positive encouragement and really find my passion, which after leaving, I really didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. Finding who I was at the Narrow Road Home, it ignited a passion for cooking. It’s been a dream come true, everyday I wake up is the best day of my life and even my hard days are nothing compared to what I went through.”

McQuaid says her path to becoming a chef, all began with a community garden.

“We planted a garden at the house and I was overwhelmed with the amount of produce at the garden, so I started experimenting with recipes and I couldn’t stop. It was a constant source of enjoyment. It was a constant thing to enjoy – cooking good food for people. I’m from the Maritimes, so kitchen parties were a huge thing growing up. Family in the kitchen was what I remembered from being a child, it’s something I missed. It was like going back to childhood with finding that passion, it’s something I love doing – and apparently I’m pretty good at it!”

The Creperie helps the women staying at the Narrow Road Home to give back to the community through volunteering. McQuaid notes that for many women working at the Creperie, it’s their first shot in attempting to readopt critical life skills and work experience.

“It’s not only good for the community, but it’s good for many of the girls too. Some of them don’t have life skills, some of them really miss on those key life skills that are lost through addiction or mental health issues that the girls come in with. But it’s a dream come true seeing the girls really bloom into special and amazing ladies.”

For those who have a second chance at life through the Narrow Road Home and Creperie, Mcquaid says she is thankful for the restaurants continued success and community support.

“I think it makes us a beacon of light here in the community, to bring people here together. Just having that happy smile whenever you walk through the door is a really huge thing that we notice is really helping people.”

McQuaid will be hosting a connect group through the Creperie on Monday November 19 at 7:00 p.m., hoping to foster open community discussion and belonging. On November 22 the Narrow Road Home will be hosting an open house and information night at 6:30 p.m.

Head Chef For Narrow Road Creperie Shares Her Story, Struggles And Newly Found Passion

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Why do we use killer substances to numb? What’s hell to others is Heaven to some. Because for one more hour my heart doesn’t hurt, until sickness starts and I can’t discern. No one understands the bugs that I feel, skin stretched raw this wasn’t part of the deal. I swear it’s me mom, help I’m inside,It’s the demon that stole, cheated and lied!But consequences happen from free will he entrusted, God please this is too much my soul shattered and busted. Quickly heaven turns hell and there’s no sign of my heart, only a shell of a person Satan can be so smart. But Remember hope is a powerful tool, God can heal anyone even one who’s been a fool. So with your last fighting will never deny get down on your knees surrender everything you own… Emotions, environment, people, possessions,it’s already know. Choose life God and love too for Satan creeps in and destroys the you you knew. – Jessica Harris

Lost By Jessica Harris

WRITTEN BY JUSTINA DEARDOFF AND KARINA YACEYKO – Published: 24 May 2016, The Calgary Journal

This place is not something you would picture as a treatment centre. At 110 years old, the Victorian-style High River house looks peaceful and inviting as we pull up. Across the street, a bell rings from the neighbouring elementary school. It’s 3:10pm, and our first visit is about to begin.

We are welcomed in without knowing the stories the walls have already seen; stories of life and death, of hope and recovery. It served as a boarding house, a bed and breakfast and even a nurse’s residence at one time. Rooms that now hold the lost and the broken were spaces newborns took their first breath, and the ill or elderly their last.

Today, it’s called Narrow Road Home — and its residents refer to it as a place of healing rather than a treatment centre.

It is here that Kim Engbrecht, founder of Narrow Road Home, and Vicki Hooper, a cognitive behaviour therapist, create specialized treatments for women suffering from drug addictions, alcoholism, self-hate and mental health issues.

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Narrow is the gate to life

WRITTEN BY JUSTINA DEARDOFF AND KARINA YACEYKO – Published: 24 May 2016, The Calgary Journal This place is not something you would picture as a treatment centre. At 110 years old, the Victorian-style High River house looks peaceful and inviting as we pull up. Across the street, a bell rings from the neighbouring elementary school. …

Narrow is the gate to life Read More »