A Coffee with Lori Patrick, Executive Director of Adeara Recovery Centre

This week, we sit down for a deeply personal and inspiring chat with Lori Patrick, Executive Director of Adeara Recovery Centre, to explore the heart of long-term recovery: community and family.

Adeara's Mission and History

Lori shares her journey from working in insurance and completing her business diploma at NAIT to finding her calling in women's ministries, ultimately leading her to Adeara in 2018. Adeara began 27 years ago as The Edmonton Dream Centre, founded through the simple kindness of a group of individuals who saw a vital need for support and safety for women recovering from addiction—a true testament to community action.

We discuss the evolution of the organization, tracing its roots from the original "Pink House" to its current facility—an apartment building that can house 10 families at a time for their year-long program.

Healing Families, Not Just Individuals

Lori dives into what makes Adeara so unique and critical: it’s one of the only long-term recovery centres in Canada where women are actively encouraged to bring their children into the program. This allows families to heal together, fostering stability and breaking cycles of addiction.

Beyond the initial program, Adeara extends its community support through newly established transition housing. This critical resource assists residents with the necessary steps for successful reintegration into society after completing their program.

Ways to Support the Adeara Community

Lori explains how Adeara creates a holistic network of support that the public can easily join. One key initiative is the community thrift store, "More Than a Fad," which Adeara recently took over. "More Than a Fad" is more than just a thrift store; it's a vital support system where you can donate, volunteer, and shop to directly contribute to Adeara's life-changing work.

Discover simple, tangible ways the community can step in to help these families build a brighter future. Whether you volunteer your time, purchase items from the store, or support local partnerships—like buying Adeara Recovery Coffee from The Wall Coffee Roasters in Acheson—every action helps provide a safe, supported haven for recovering women and their children. You can also donate directly at the link below!

Support Adeara This Christmas - Adeara Recovery Centre

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Transcript

0:01

Hi, I'm Lori Patrick, and you are listening to Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. Okay, it's snowed like big time. It's like big time snow. It's not that bad. No, come on. It's like snow and rain and ice and everything. Well, welcome to Alberta, this is where we live. Welcome to Alberta. I know it's crazy, but it's winter now. It's officially bonafide winter. Listen, I need to let everybody know that Cam has a little bit of an issue with the music going on today with where we're recording this podcast. So first of all, let's tell everybody that we are doing our podcast at The Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. And everybody's getting ready for Christmas. And they're actually decorating the coffee shop right now. But their Christmas music is just a little slow. Cam needs something a little peppier. They need faster Christmas music. And it's not for us to tell. Because we're just guests here. But they could maybe use something a little more upbeat, I think, Christmas-wise. We're going to put a suggestion in the comment box that doesn't exist. Do they have a comment box? No, but we could create one. We could make a comment box and put comments in. Anyway, that's where we're coming from, everybody, in Acheson. And hey, if you haven't been to The Wall Coffee Roasters, you need to come. Because they have... They have holiday drinks. Holiday drinks. They have the eggnog latte. The eggnog chai. The eggnog chai. And the... The peppermint mocha. Peppermint mocha. And the... Espresso cranberry tonic. Espresso cranberry tonic. Yes. Have you had that one? I have not. I've never had that one. It sounds a little wild to me. Me too. Like, can you drive after you have that one? Maybe not. Anyway, that's all I'm saying. So, hey, you need to come to The Wall Coffee Roasters and try one of their holiday coffees because I think they're pretty good. I've had the eggnog latte and it was pretty good. It was decent. You know what? No. Come to The Wall Coffee Roasters and buy some gifts for Christmas. Yes. That's right. Buy coffee. Lots of coffee. Gift cards, coffee, merchandise. Gift cards, coffee. And today we... Well, we'll get into it with our special guest. You could buy coffee that will help an amazing organization in the city... We'll talk about that today. We'll talk about that in a few minutes. So that's a brilliant idea. Come. Great stocking stuffers. And with the price of coffee these days, I mean, let me tell you, that's not a cheap gift. Inflation has really... I know. I know. It's crazy. It's like giving away a diamond ring or something like that. It's pretty unbelievable. So hey, come on down and get your coffee and do that. But I just noticed as we're starting our podcast, the sun is shining. That's kind of cool. Again, we are in Alberta. We are in Alberta. That's right. I woke up this morning to a blizzard and now the sun is shining. I really like that. Anyway, welcome everybody. Good to have you. I'm so excited about today's podcast. This is going to be great. And we want to tell everybody that our podcast is brought to you by some very important people. Our friends at Wing Snob where the wings are fresh, never frozen. Fresh, never frozen. 16 flavors, four rubs of the most amazing wings you've ever had at Wing Snob. I was there on Saturday. The place was packed. Wing Snob packed. Unbelievable. And they are amazing wings, folks. They've got more than just wings. They've got fries. They've got cornbread. They've even got these cauliflower things. Have you tried those? No. I just saw them on the menu. I'm going to try them. Because apparently Mike says they're really good. And so, yeah, you got to go to Wing Snob. Ten locations in the city of Edmonton, now in Calgary. And if you want to know where a Wing Snob is, all you got to do is go to www.wingsnob.ca. That's it. That's where you go. And you'll check it out for some of the best wings. I guarantee it that you will ever have. We also want to tell you that Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam is brought to you by Mprint. Yes, I'm glad you got the M in there. Mprint. Yes. The letter M. Letter M. Mprint. I was going to say the number M. It's a letter M. Mprint Sign and Print Solutions, right here in Acheson. Right here in Acheson. And they are the preferred printer of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. Yes, they are. They are everything from your business cards. They will do brochures and they will do letterhead and they'll do books and they'll even wrap. They will wrap. Not that kind of wrap, though. Not that kind of wrap. What did they wrap? They wrapped a... Well, they've wrapped a motor home, they've wrapped trailers, they've wrapped vehicles and they've even wrapped a helicopter. A helicopter. They wrapped a whole... We say this on every episode. They wrapped a whole helicopter. I think that's pretty incredible. So, hey, all your printing needs wherever you live, whether it's here in Edmonton, Acheson, the province of Alberta, or if you live in Tuktayaktuk, they will do it for you. Do we have listeners in Tuktayaktuk? The only place we don't have listeners is in... Antarctica. Antarctica. Yes. So, if anybody knows anybody in Antarctica, tell them to listen. That's right. Anyway, so hey, Mprint, thanks folks for sponsoring us. We appreciate it. You're amazing people. And today, we have an amazing guest, so why don't we get into it? Well, Cam, today is, now people will be listening to this podcast on Thursday, but today is technically Giving Tuesday. That's right. It's Giving Tuesday. We had Black Friday. Yes. Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday. And today is what they call Giving Tuesday. Yes. And it's where you just, you buy all your goods on Black Friday and on Cyber Monday and all that, and now it's time to give back to organizations that need our help to do some pretty amazing things in this world. And so that's what Giving Tuesday is all about. That's what it's all about. And today, Cam, our guest is one of those amazing people. Yes. So let's kick it off. All right. I'm excited to share that our guest today is Lori Patrick, who is the Executive Director of Adeara. So welcome, Lori. Welcome, Lori. Thank you so much. Good to have you. Yeah. This is great. On Giving Tuesday. On Giving Tuesday. And so again, I just want to go back to it, because this will drop on Thursday. Just because it's Thursday doesn't mean you can't give on Thursday. Giving Tuesday is the start of the year-end holiday push for charities. That's it. That's what it is about. So yeah. So they can still give on Thursday. Absolutely. And we'll let you know how they do that by the end of this. That'd be awesome. Yeah. Good to have you. Thanks. It's really great to be here and to actually watch you guys in action. I've listened to your podcast. I know. She's pretty animated, isn't she? Honestly. I know. You guys go off script and you just are as far as I can tell. We have no script. There's no script. No, no, no. And I mean, Cam, you just are in a whole new world. It's just quite amazing. It's the Christmas season. It is the season to be jolly. Ho, ho, ho. And so anyway, I've known Lori. Lori, how long have I known you? Oh, it's got to be, man, like. It's over 30 years, I'm sure. I was going to say more than I thought I can't, I'll get in trouble. Because you're only what, 32? Yeah. So yeah, so yeah. She looks 32. That's for sure. So yeah, it's been a long time. I've known you and your husband Glenn for, I've known Glenn longer, but yeah. But I know you longer. Yeah. Well, no, I don't know who I know longer. But anyway, I know. We've almost been married 35 years. Yeah, you guys have. Yeah, so it's cool. It's, that's, it's a long time. Yeah. So it's great to have you. And I'm so glad that we have you here on Giving Tuesday because we're going to talk about what you do and what you, your role is and how you're involved in Adeara and I think it's absolutely amazing. So why don't we just start off with that? Why don't you tell us a little bit of, you're the executive director of Adeara. Tell us about Adeara. What is Adeara? Okay. Well, Adeara is a long term, faith based, accredited addiction recovery centre for women. We're one of the only centres, which is funny that I say that because there's a lot of, there's not a lot, there's only a few centres in Canada, actually, that allow women to bring children into the program. And in fact, a friend of mine just sent me a clip that was, somebody in Ontario or Quebec said that they were the only centre in Canada that allowed women to bring children into their program. So, I know that there are others, but there are very few. Yeah. So, I just saw our listeners understand to distinguish that. Women, when they need to go into a recovery program, if they have children, they're not allowed to take them. Is that right? Well, yeah. They generally have to go in and they have to choose between staying with their kids or getting help. And so, often you, you know, mothers want to be with their children. Yeah. Other situations are that the kids have already been maybe removed from their care. Right, by the ministry or... yeah. And so, this gives them a chance to sort of rebuild themselves and rebuild their families. And so, often women will come in and two to three months into their time with us, their children are brought back into their care. And so, that's a beautiful part of the work that happens at Adeara is just that rebuilding of families. Yeah, so that's what distinguishes you from most other programs. Yeah. They can have their children. I think that's amazing. It is absolutely amazing. And that's got to have some incredible effect on them, to have their children with them during recovery. Well, exactly. And when children are removed from their mother's care, there is that whole trauma that they experience even in that. And so, not only is our program geared to help the woman, but it's to really break that cycle of addiction, and it helps the children grow up in an environment where maybe otherwise they wouldn't have had that chance. So, not only are we in the work of, I guess, recovery, but we also are in the work of prevention. We don't want to see it continue. And the fact that we're long-term really reinforces that. You know, women that come into our program have had years of addiction. They've been in their addiction for a long time. Often the women that come into our program have started in their addiction when they're early in their teenage years. And so, I just actually was reflecting on a story yesterday where a woman was in her addiction for 17 years before she came in. And so, being in a long term program is essential because, you know, to actually break habits, to actually change your way of thinking, to actually change your life, it takes a lot of time. They don't change after two months, do they? It just doesn't work that way. There is a place, I'm not going to bash any of the shorter term programs because there is an important piece that short term programs offer. It starts them on the journey, but that's not where it ends. Incredible. Yeah it is incredible. Absolutely. Interestingly, Adeara started 27 years ago, and it was initially called the Edmonton Dream Centre. I know the little history of that. Yeah. I know you recently had a guest, Nate Glubish. Yes, that's right. Minister, Honourable. Minister Nate Glubish. Honourable, it's nice that you Minister Honourable. Yeah, and I remember you had a hard time saying what to refer to him as. Yeah, he couldn't make up his mind. He didn't know what to be called. I just call him Your Majesty. Yeah. So his grandfather actually was one of the founders of the Edmonton Dream Centre. There was actually a group of people that saw need in the city, saw that women especially didn't have a place of safety. There was vulnerable women who were just left to themselves downtown and they just lacked support. And they were often overlooked. And so they started with just a house where, like a shelter. Yeah, I think it's an incredible story because I know Harry Bower. That's right. Very well. I used to call him Grandpa Bower. And it's just neat to hear and to have seen him get involved in this. Like he was a businessman who just had compassion for the hurting and the lost people and just thought, I want to do this. Him and a few other people, but yeah. So tell us about the Pink House. So the Pink House was basically, it became pink because there was a free can of paint. Yeah. And it turned out to be pink. So it really wasn't rocket science. It just was available and free. And so that's what they painted that initial house that they used, which was donated. And then eventually we moved into where we're currently located, which is a private, it's an apartment building in a residential area, it's unmarked, it's not listed, it remains private. And so yeah, that's where we are now. And it's basically a ten suite apartment building that allows us to just house women and their kids. So you used to be called the Dream Centre. The Dream Centre, yeah. So maybe people have heard of the Dream Centre, didn't know that you changed your name to Adeara. That's right. And in 2017, that's when, there was sort of a shift in branding and they did a shift in the name. And just wanted to, there was some confusion, I think, around the name of the Dream Centre connecting. So anyways, there was a whole sort of rationale around it. Yeah, because Dream Centre is an organization out of the US and they have lots of little centres in Alberta. And there's lots of Dream Centres actually in Alberta. But we're not necessarily connected. We're doing similar work, but we're not connected to them. And so, the name Adeara came up, which is actually a Hebrew, it's a Hebrew word, and it means strength. And it's the feminine sort of form of that. And so that really was a good picture of the women that actually come into our program. Women that are willing to take that step of courage and to change in their life, they're coming into a place that's completely unknown, they don't trust anyone, and they're really handing their life over. So how long have you been the Executive Director of Adeara? Were you Dream Centre Executive Director? No, I came in when it was called Adeara. And so in January it'll be seven years. Seven years? Yeah. Wow. I know. That's a lot. It's a long time. It is. Yeah. But I want to back it up, Cam. All right. Yeah. Because before you became the Executive Director of Adeara, Lori, are you a born and bred Edmontonian? No. Okay. Where did you grow up? So I was born in Saskatoon. No. You weren't. She's a good Saskie girl. In the University Hospital in Saskatoon in 1970. Get out. I know. Back in the olden days. Really? I didn't know that. You didn't know that? Yeah. I lived there for 10 years with my family. So when I was 10, we moved to Winnipeg. Yeah. Okay. And then we lived in Winnipeg for 7 years. And that was sort of my, you know, those formational years, my teenage years. From 10 to 17. Kind of did my schooling. And then when I was in grade 12, just as I entered grade 12, my dad changed jobs and we moved to Edmonton. And so grade 12. That's a big one. That was a tough one. What high school did you go to? Harry Ainley. Ainley. Yeah. Good old Ainley. Yeah. I thought I knew a lot of people until it was grad. Yeah. And then I'm like, where did these people come from? All of you people are graduating? Like really? Yeah. I came from a school in Winnipeg that had that many in the entire student body. Well, Harry Ainley's a big school. Yeah. Really big school. That's where I came from. And then we've been here since 1987. Okay. Been here ever since. I didn't know that about Sask. I didn't know that about you and Sask. I thought Winnipeg. I thought that's where you originated from. No, that's where my dad's from. He's a Rough Riders fan. Yeah. That's right. I knew that. I remember talking to you about that. Crazy. Good people from Saskatchewan. The co-host is from Saskatchewan. So anytime we have a Saskatchewan person, it just gets carried away. But anyways, yeah. I mean, it was a nice place to grow up, but because those were sort of my very early years, I don't have great, like a lot of memories of it. But just think about it. The climate is very similar. Yeah. Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Edmonton. It's not a climate shock. Dad could you not have picked Palm Springs. But anyways. Right? Yeah. Anyway. I know your dad. He's an amazing guy. And yeah, okay. So then you came to Edmonton. You graduated from the from the Ainley, the Harry Ainley. Yeah. Yeah. And did you do after that? I didn't really know. I think in grade 12, everything kind of just was turned upside down in my mind, in my world. I didn't have clear direction as to what I wanted to do with my life. And so I was working actually in an insurance company, State Farm Insurance. Yeah, State Farm. And Al Kaliba, I just want to give him a shout out because he was a fantastic boss and he just really saw something in me and he just kept me on his team for a number of years actually and was very good to me. But after a year of being, of working full time, actually before that I was working at Bootlegger. Bootlegger? Bootlegger. Does Bootlegger still exist? I think it does. Really? I think it does. Or did they close? No, I don't know. I think it, I just, I, I, I was, I advanced to a manager in training there. See, I could never, no, I'm just, I could never buy at bootlegger. Bootlegger was in back in the day. I know, but I could never buy my jeans there. Because they were too expensive? No, because I was too short. And they didn't have short jeans. Yeah. They were like for the taller, like, and I was like, come on. But you know what, we did offer, we did offer complimentary, like, alterations. I know, but in those days, I was so vain to have my pants altered was like. I know. It does. It's a different look. I don't know if they're still around. We should check that out. That's where I started my retail experience. And then I moved into insurance, and then I went actually back to school. I went to NAIT and I got my business diploma. Oh, really? I did not know that. I took marketing, and I actually loved it. And then I completed, at that time, it was only a two-year diploma. So it's just a diploma that I have. And then I went back to State Farm. They held my position actually for me, and they hired me back there. And so then I worked there. And I loved it. It's not that I loved insurance, I just loved the people. And it's very interesting because many of the people that I met through that particular job, I have since reconnected in other circles. And I also learned a lot in that. I saw, you know, when you're in something and there's hard things, and you sort of do different things and you don't know why. And then later on you look back and you see, okay, I learned that because of that type of environment. And I remember, you know, insurance costs go up a lot, right? And as a person that would give quotes over the phone and who would kind of talk to people when they got their increase in their insurance, I was often at the other end of people complaining and yelling. And I just remember, I remember that there was a couple of days where I just, I left work crying because I just felt so hurt by the people that would yell at me. Because it was like it was your fault. Exactly. But it's not your fault. That's right. And that's what I learned. Is that a lot of times people have hurts or frustrations or stress and they just take it out on the person. I hear you. And so you can't take it personally. And that was a really valuable lesson for me. That's a good word right around this time of year. Because we all get a little frustrated. As you're out doing your holiday shopping and you're getting frustrated, don't yell at the person ringing you in or your grocery store clerk. It's not their fault the prices are going up. The only person you can yell at is the person who stole the parking spot you were waiting for. That's right. In the mall. You can yell at them. But not the clerk in the store. No. That's not fair to them. They don't set the prices. They're just the messenger. Now, can I ask you in this bootlegger, insurance journey, there was a young man that came into your life. He was super cute. He was what? He was super cute. I don't even... Did he walk into bootleggers one day looking for jeans? No. The first time I saw him, I actually clearly remember the first time I saw him. I wish he was here. This would be so good. I know. Anyways, yeah. So we, at the same similar time of I guess all of the bootleggers, and I think I was still at bootleggers, we were attending a church. It was actually a new church that was starting on the West End. It was called West Edmonton Christian Assembly. It turned out that the pastors that were starting that church used to babysit me. No? Oh, really? When we were in Saskatoon. Wow. Yeah. And so we, you know, my parents and I, we sort of thought, you know, let's go there. Yeah. We were new to the city anyways. Let's go check out this new church and support it and get involved there. And so close to when we started attending there, there was this guy that came into the building. I'm like, who is that? And- Is that how you- I don't think that's how you said it. I think you said, who is that? I'm not sure. I don't really remember. I do remember talking to the pastor's wife, Arlene, at the time. And she said, Lori, there is a young man coming to look after the youth here. And he's quite attractive. And I said, well, is he available? That's the question. Is he available? Yeah. He can be as attractive as he wants, but if he's not available, then what's the use? And she said, yeah, actually, he is. Yeah. So that was sort of the spark. And so we went on our first date. Like I won't get into all of it because it's a... I don't know. I kind of maybe like to hear some of that. Where did you go on your first date? Our first date was an Oiler game. Okay. So this was what happened. I met him at the church, but then he found out I worked at a bootlegger. And then I would see him kind of loitering outside the store. Just hanging around. Yeah. Just kind of hanging around. Okay. I just for full transparency here, I know Glenn, he's a good friend of mine. So this is why this and I've never heard this story. So this is why this is really great. These are the great things come out in the podcast. I know this is really great. I can just see Glenn just hanging around the bootlegger. Just outside the store. Yeah. And he'd come in and try on clothes and obviously I would help him with choosing outfits. It was very fun. And then he said to me, he said to me one day, he said, Lori, if I ever asked you out on a date, would you go with me? Yeah. I said, yeah, yeah, I'd go. And he goes, if I were to invite you to a hockey game, would you go? I said, well, yeah, as long as the Jets were playing. Oh, yeah, because you're still from Winnipeg. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said, as long as the Jets were playing. Well, get this, I believe this was an act of God. Shortly after that conversation, I said, I heard that the Jets were in town and I get a phone call and well, no, actually what I did was I heard that the Jets were in town and sometimes Hestor and Arlene, the couple that knew Glenn, that were used to babysit me, that are our friends. I called them because they had kids and I knew that it was nice for them to go out and I would babysit their kids if they wanted. So I called them and I said, hey, I just want to let you know and she knew this to an advance that I would be willing to babysit anytime. I called her and I said, just so you know, I'm available. I said, I heard there's a game tonight. If you guys, if you and Hestor want to go to this game, I will babysit your kids. She says, funny, you should call. She goes, we do have tickets to the game, but we're just trying to decide what to do with them. I said, okay, well, let me know. Just keep me posted. Yeah. So then we hang up. I get a call from Glenn. It's a Jets game. He invites me to the game. I said, yes, we went. We went and we went to, do you remember Turtle Creek Cafe? Yeah. We went there too. Okay. Yeah. We went on this little date. But there's a lot of people from the church that go to these hockey games. Yeah. They all got tickets. Yeah. So we went to the game and we were seen there by some people. Yeah. There was this immediate, because of his role at the church, everything was new. He was like the youth pastor, right? He was the youth pastor. Pretty important role. And I think there were some other girls that might have been interested. Oh, had they? I don't know. I don't know that for sure. But he tells me that. He tells me that. I like that. He tells me that. Yeah. Anyway, so there was some talk. There was like, oh, Glenn and Lori. Oh, what's going on? And so, that kind of caused us to be like, no. We're not doing this. And we don't want to get involved in this. Everything about the church is too new. We didn't want there to be any sort of spotlight on this at all. So, we actually didn't go on another date for another year. A year? A year. And... Did you date anyone else? Yeah. Like, I had friends. I didn't really have any other boyfriends. Did he date anyone else? No. No. See, Glenn, he's a good man. He's a good man. He knew what he wanted right from the start. And I think the problem was I didn't exactly know what I wanted. I knew that he was a really good person, but I really didn't think that I was going to marry a pastor. Yeah. Well, yeah. And it didn't actually go with what I thought my plans were. And so that sort of started me on this journey of discovering what my life was supposed to unfold and become. So a year later, he asked you out again? Yeah. A year later, actually, it's crazy because I had said something on that date that caused him to think that I wasn't interested. Oh, you're playing hard to get. Maybe. Maybe. And I was just uncertain. I was a little bit guarded. Yeah. I totally enjoyed myself, but I was guarded. First date. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You don't put it all out there. So yeah. So it's not that we didn't have contact throughout that year. We did because we were involved together in just youth ministry and I was involved in helping and stuff. So we talked a lot, but we never went on another one on one date. Yeah. And so throughout that year, as I kind of got to know other people and I was evaluating what was important to me and as I was sort of considering who I wanted to be in relationship with, he kept coming to mind. And so him and I were talking on the phone this one time and he really hadn't pursued me anymore after that. Wow. And so I said to him, I said, If I were to tell you. I love these questions. If I were... If I were to ask you out? If I were to tell you that I was interested, would that be of interest to you? Like, what would you do that? He goes, Oh, are you? I said, Well, I said, maybe. I said, Anyways, so that's where it kind of restarted. And so we went on another date and we went to another hockey game, which it was the same time of year. Yeah, and it was different. And so for the next three months, we, he picked me up. At this time, I was going to NAIT. He picked me up every Thursday from school, from NAIT, from NAIT. Yeah. And we would just go to the park and we would just throw the ball. Yeah, we would play baseball together. We would just do things together and just get to know each other. Good for Glenny. I didn't know this about him. We kept it really under cover too, because we didn't want any pressure. Well, the church gossip, I tell you. I was going to say, for those of us who have been in the church world a little bit, it's like, you know, and I know that church well, because my mom went to that church and my relatives. And some of my relatives, I could see, they would be the instigators of a lot of, and they had hockey tickets. Yeah, that's right. I know. I know. You know who you are. That's right. But you're passed on to Glory now. So I can talk about you, Uncle Johnny, because that's what it was. All right. So anyway, okay. So three months, you threw the ball around, and then he said, let's do it. And you said, okay. On March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. I thought it was very fitting. St. Patrick's Day. Glenn Patrick. St. Patrick. We made it official. We were dating. And we dated. That's great. He's a smart guy. That's right. Then we dated for about a year. Yeah. When he asked me to marry him. Yeah. I said yes. Oh, good. And then we had an 11-month engagement, which I don't recommend. But we had that 11-month engagement because my sister also got engaged. So my sister and I were married six months. Really? She did? Yeah. To Dale Frolic. I'll just do a shout out for Dale. Okay. So yeah, that's what happened. So in 1992, we got married. That's a journey. It was a journey. That's a journey. It was a long one. We needed for just for time sake because we still want to talk about Adeara. This is really good. This is fun. I can hardly wait to see Glenn. I am just so anticipating seeing Glenn. I can hardly wait till the next time I see him. You'll have to bring him on your podcast. Get his side. Get his side of the story. We've had couples tell their stories. And while they're sitting there, it's been two different stories. It's been interesting. Yeah. But anyway. Okay. And so you've been married how long? How long? It's 33 years. 33 years. And you have how many children? Four children. Four children. Four daughters. Four girls. No boys. Just four girls. Four daughters. They brought the boys into the family, which we're grateful for. Three son-in-laws. Love them. And then I've got two grandsons and three granddaughters. Wow. That's a lot of girls. Yeah. And I'm from a family of three girls. Yeah. So there's just. I'm also a family of three girls. Yeah. Where are you in the birth order? I'm the oldest. Okay. I'm the baby. Oh. Are you really a baby? Oh yeah. I am. I am the baby. All right. Yeah. Wow. Most of that I didn't know, but I'm very glad now that I know most of that. It's amazing. What have we talked about in the last 34 years that you don't know anything about my life? I didn't know. First of all, I didn't know you worked at Bootlegger. That really gets me going right there because. You know what? I think that's a story that more people need to hear. I agree with that. Everybody used to buy their jeans at Bootlegger. That was the place. Anyways, good job, I'm sure, and taught you a lot, but probably not the most important job you've done in your life. Well, I did know you worked in insurance. I didn't know about how. Anyway, anyway. OK, so bring us back. We'll come back to it today. Yeah. So here we are. So 34 years later, married and four girls, son-in-law's, grandchildren, and you're not retiring. No. Seven years at Adeara. Seven years at Adeara. Yeah. Yeah. So what, Lori, what was it about Adeara that spoke to you, that said, this is where I need to be? Yeah. Yeah. I think that so this would probably be part of the story of marrying Glenn and being, you know, just even in ministry work, in church work, and just being involved in serving and being involved in the lives of other people. I always felt that every position or every role that I was in, I was never equipped to do. Right. I always felt like, I don't have enough training for this. I don't know what I'm doing. And so, I was always felt ill-equipped, but there was always an excitement about it still. Right. And so, whether it was youth ministry, that I was involved with my husband, working with girls, just being a mentor, being a leader in that environment. And then from there, I got involved in women's ministries at the church, just doing things that, creating spaces for women just to grow in their faith, but also in other parts of their life as well. And just being able to see women reach their full potential was always something that I discovered was a passion of mine. And then having four daughters and watching them grow and struggle through different things, but being on the sideline to support them and cheer them on and see them succeed in different things. Being with them when they felt like failures in different things, being part of both ends of that, I just realized that that just brought me such joy. And it really energized me. And there's this book that I read a long time ago. I don't know who it's by, but it's called something about finding your sweet spot. Right. It's when your passion and your personality and your gifts and your strengths kind of go together. Your work goes together. That's kind of your sweet spot. And so I felt like I was kind of in my sweet spot when I was involved in women's ministry leadership. But then I transitioned into kids ministry at our church, too. There was a need there to fill a role. And I was asked and invited to fill that role. And I did. And it wasn't necessary that I loved kids. I mean, I do. I do. Yeah, let's be clear on that. But I'm not, I don't think I'm really gifted with teaching children or anything like that. But I am, I love seeing people gather together and work towards a common sort of goal. I love bringing people together and finding their niche and finding where their strengths can be used. So I guess these are sort of things that I did leading up to this position at Adeara becoming available. So, you know, spent how many years? I guess 34 years either doing women's leaders, leadership, kids leadership. For sure. And one day I was out with my friend and she was on the board at the time of Adeara and they had just lost their CEO at the time. And she said to me, Lori, would you ever consider being the CEO of Adeara? And I said, no, no, I've never thought of that. I don't think I'm qualified to do that. Yeah, I was going to say, was it because you didn't feel like... Addictions is a huge thing. Yeah, I didn't have background in addiction, mental health. I've been in leadership roles, but I've never lead, like been the leader of a non-profit. So there was so much that I didn't know that I just kind of disqualified myself, and yet there was just something in me that sparked a little bit of, I wonder if this is something that I could do. Because that's not going from just sort of one church job to another church job. It's a whole new world, addictions and alcohol addiction, drug addiction. Just leading a not-for-profit. Leading a not-for-profit. Abuse, all of those kinds. It's just massive. And a lot of people, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but a lot of people just have never gone down those roads. They don't know much about that. And it's a different world, for sure. So I think the good thing was that I didn't know what I was getting myself into. But at the same time, it was important for me that my husband, that Glenn, would be in favour of me doing this. And at the same time, Glenn knew that he was transitioning and beginning his retirement from his work at the church. And so when I talked to him about it, he's like, no, this is not really a good job for you. He said, we need something stable. And he's like, working at a non-profit, that is not stable. I said, first of all, we've been involved in the church world for 34 years. Right. Like, how stable is that? Right. Like, that's a non-profit right there. So anyways, just took some time. We prayed about it. I did ask the Lord, I trust the Lord in my life, and I depend on his peace to make decisions. And so, you know, I just I prayed and I said to the Lord, if this is where I'm supposed to be, if I'm supposed to take on this challenge of being the leader of Adeara, then you have to turn Glenn's heart and have him be in favor of this. Because I needed Glenn's blessing. That was important to me. And his support. And so we were invited to a gala, one of my first Evening of Dreams Galas that I went to. And they were sharing vision, they were sharing stories, they were doing all the things. And we walked away from that evening. And I didn't tell Glenn that I had this prayer, or I had prayed this prayer about his shift in heart. But we left that night and he said, Lori, this is good. He's like, this is where you should be. And so he just really affirmed that. And from there, I just, I reached out to my friend and the board chair at the time. And I just said, yeah, I'll do it. I'll do it. And so we went through the process. The interview, did all of the things. And yeah, and I started part time. I was still working at the church at the time. So I just took some time to kind of wind down there. And then I was full time by May of 2018. And at that time, how many women were in Adeara? Well, it was similar. The only, there was probably, all I remember about my first day was that I had a grievance the first day. I had to deal with a client grievance. And I'm like, what in the world do I do with this? And from that moment on, it just, I think what I learned over the last seven years is that, and I think I knew this before, but the strength of an organization is really the people. Yeah, that's right. And so the board had a good handle on where we were going. Yeah. The staff was all passionate about it. And so over time, I mean, the team has changed a little bit. The board has changed a little bit as well. But our vision and mission remain the same, and that is to see women in addiction live in freedom through a life of recovery. You know, we want to equip and empower women to live in sustainable recovery. And how many women do you have in the Adeara program right now? We have, we, right now, Cam, that's a really hard question, because at any given time, it can change. It can change from day to day. That's right. What is your capacity? We can have 10 families. So before COVID, we had maybe, we could have up to 14 or 15 women. And that was because they would share suites. Right. But then COVID happened. And with all that isolation and all that stuff that went down, we just said, okay, in order for women to be in isolation if needed, that kind of thing, every woman needed her own suite. Right. And so then that's when we really prioritized families. We thought if we're going to only put one woman in a suite, yes, we're going to prioritize women with children. Right. So prior to that, we did have women and children and just single women. Right. It's not that we wouldn't take a woman without children. Yeah. But we'll prioritize. Sure, sure. We'll prioritize the ones with kids. And how long is the average stay? I think that is increasing. It's about, what did our last report state? I think it was like 230-some days. Right. So we really encourage, our program is a year long. We ask women to commit to a year. So they come in with that mindset. But then there's things that can take women out so quickly. Right? And so the average is that. But when women stay a year, often they stay longer. Right. Because the longer you stay, the greater the chance that you realize you need more support. The more things become revealed that need healing, that need time, that need to be rebuilt. You know, amendments that need to be made with family members, or you know, loved ones. There's trauma, the things that these women, sometimes I hear stories, and I don't listen, I don't hear all the stories. I only hear the stories that women want to share with me. And sometimes I hear things that I think, how can this even be real? Yeah. Right? Like this sounds, first of all, how did you get through this? How are you still alive? And then I'm reminded that these women have a purpose. These women have a future. And I think, Jennifer, you asked what kind of made me want to come into this job. It's because that same passion of wanting to see women reach their full potential. It was something that I could see in this. I knew that I needed work that was important, work that actually made an eternal difference. And I feel so blessed and honoured to be able to be part of this organization. Because it's life changing. We're literally saving lives. You have recently, fairly recently, I know you've added another component, and that's transition housing, which, and again, full disclosure, so I've been involved with Adeara on the fringes a little bit, off and on, so I heard these conversations. And I know it was your heart to have a transition home, where they would come out of the program and not just be thrust back into society. How do you succeed when you do that? Exactly, yeah. And the program doesn't, like, recovery doesn't end when the program ends, of course, right? That's right, yeah. Recovery is life long, so how can we extend? And I've even heard it say that to be able to have at least five years of support really sets you up for that long term. So now you have your transition house? Yeah. We also have, we've entitled it a recovery support program. And so with that program comes one on one support. So when a woman leaves, no matter when she leaves, we've had women who have come into our program and within a week they're like, no, this is just too much. It's too much structure, can't do this, they leave. And we still offer them the opportunity to be part of our recovery support program. Doesn't matter because we actually, I think that demonstrates that we truly care. Yeah, you don't write them off. Exactly. Yeah. And you know what? They already carry so much shame because they know they've disappointed people. Right. And we don't want to be added to that list of contributing to their shame. And so, yeah, so that recovery support offers one on one support. It also offers, what we've called it, is foundations of recovery classes. So every, all the program that is within that 12 months, we've condensed it into smaller modules as refresher courses. Because it is, our program deals with the bio, psycho, social, spiritual. So it talks about and it gives them education around all those components of their lives. So boundaries and you know, just their thoughts and their behaviors and celebrate recovery. Like there's so many components. You can see it on our website too, the program that we offer. But so that's kind of given in smaller doses, I guess, to just refresh the women so that they can continue that in their day to day. How many full time staff, how many staff do you have at Adeara? A lot. We have, I would say, I can, I think we have about 27. So 10 of those, 10 to 12 of those are life skills support workers. And so we have around the clock support. And there, a lot of them are part time, a few of them are full time. But we offer like just somebody is always available to them. And then we have our clinical team where we have two counselors. We have a clinical coordinator and an intake coordinator. And that department is overseen by our clinical director. And then we have our whole fund development because we raise funds. Of course, you're a non-profit. So let's just stop on that one for a second. I can't believe we're 45 minutes into this, but we'll just keep going for a little bit. Because we had to talk about Glenny for a while, and that took up some time. Now we're down to the important stuff right here. Glenny, not that you're not important, you are, but I'm just saying. So Cam and I have a real passion for, I would say, the lesser known not-for-profits, not the big names here. The ones that fly under the radar. But are doing amazing work. And Lori, what you're doing is absolutely amazing. Yeah, and listen folks, again, I know there's lots of places to give, and right around this time of year, everybody's asking, everybody's asking. It's a reality. But we wanted you to know about places like Adeara, that like Jennifer said, fly under the radar a little bit. But the work you're doing is absolutely amazing. And you rely on the goodness of people. And if we had the time, we don't today, but you could tell story after story from the very beginning of Adeara, with Harry Bauer and the Bushsteins, I believe, and all of those people who came together, right from there, right to today. And I've got to see some of that through your Evening Of Dreams gala, which I get to jump around on the stage and try and raise a bunch of money for. But folks, like, let me tell you, that's how these guys survive. That's how they, and the work they're doing with these women and their children. Nobody starts out in life saying, I want to be an addict. No, no. You're talking about the trauma that so many of these women are going through, and in turn, their children are going through. How do you break that cycle? Exactly, yeah, exactly. And, you know, I think one thing, I'm very grateful for my parents. I'm thankful that I have been able to have a mom who's been there for me. I would come home from school, I knew she'd be there for me. I, you know, I grew up in that safe environment. I think my husband and I, I think Glenn and I, we offered a safe, most of the time, a safe environment for our kids. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. And I think what I realize is that a lot of the women that come through our doors did not have a safe environment to grow up in. And you're right, no fault of their own, right? And, but that cycle does start somewhere, and I believe it can end somewhere. Absolutely. And so to be able to be on that side where we can end that and see these children find safety. So we do this for the women, but we also equally do this for the children. In fact, we just recently hired a family therapist who's coming in right now just in short sort of times throughout the month to offer just specialized parenting support for the women because they themselves are parenting out of just some of the hurts, right? So not only and sometimes that what their kids are walking through can also impact how they parent them. So it's so complex. And so to have a specialist like that, to have a family therapist come in and work with the women, we're just, but it's because of support. It's because of the support of our community and all through like you said Cam, all through the seasons of Adeara and Edmonton Dream Centre, there have been people who have given and have enabled us to write this story and they've been part of the story. And so I just am grateful for those that continue to be part of the story and see their part in this. So yeah. So that ties in really well before we ask the final question of Lori, how do people give? On this Giving Tuesday, and the month of December. Yeah, and the month of December. Because year end is important. That's right. Because you're a non-profit, so you get a tax receipt. Yeah, they do. For every penny they give, they get a tax receipt. The government's still letting us do that. I don't know how much longer, but that's a whole other podcast. So yeah, how do they give? The best way to go is go to our website, adeara.ca, and there is a little button on the top that says donate. Just go there, click donate, and you can just give online. Listen folks, I don't know how else to say it. Both Jennifer and I have been involved in nonprofits all our life, and so neither of us really are shy to ask for funding for organizations we believe make a difference. And I'm gonna tell ya, I can't think of too many organizations other than Adeara, where if you're looking to give, this is a good place to put your money. Guaranteed your money is gonna go to help women and children, I guarantee it. It's not going to, pay salaries, but they're not getting paid bucket loads of money. I know that for a fact. It's actually going, your money goes to this program. And if you're looking this Christmas, maybe as a family, we've done this, where maybe as a family you say, instead of buying a whole bunch of presents, as a family, we're going to give a donation to an organization. That's great. I would have no trouble recommending and saying, yeah, Adeara. Okay, but I have one other plug to give them. Yeah, absolutely. So, you do something really great and it's fairly recent. It's More Than a Fad. Yes, that's right. So, tell us a little bit about More Than a Fad. Yeah, yeah. So, five years ago, we were given the opportunity to take over a thrift store that was being operated by another non-profit, Shepherds Care. And they offered us this thrift store called Treats and Treasures. And we thought about it. And I'm a pretty positive person. I generally see the good in things. And so, I was like, I see an opportunity here. And then there were other people that were like, Lori, it's a black hole. I remember some of those conversations. What are you doing? And so, basically, yeah, we took it over. And it was right at the beginning of COVID. And so, that was testing all on its own. But basically, it's grown into this unreal social enterprise for Adeara. And it's a place on the south side of Edmonton. It's called More Than a Fad. You can donate your lightly used items. You can volunteer and you can shop there. It is a beautiful place. It's a beautiful place. Listen, if you're thinking of doing some Christmas shopping, I'd have no trouble going to More Than a Fad to pick some stuff up. That's what we're doing, actually. This year is our family for our sort of White Elephant Christmas gift exchange. It has to be a thrifted. More than a fad. Yeah. It's great. I love it. What's the address? Do you remember? It's on 69th and 68th. I don't want to tell you, actually, because I might say it wrong. Check it on the website. You'll find out. More Than a Fad. It's a cool place. Yeah. It's cool. Yeah, it's a great place. Yeah. Our volunteers are fantastic and they help there because they're passionate about the cause that it supports, but they're also just engaged in such a beautiful community. Do some of the girls, the ladies in the program, they work? So that was part of the hope with the store was that it would provide volunteer experience and work experience for the women. So, not only does it help the women in our program, but it also we have connected with the Autism Society, Winifred Stewart, North-West College, different organizations that have come that are part of our volunteer program and they're getting work experience and it's been a very, very positive experience. Organizations, groups working together, like that's fabulous. That's amazing right there. Yeah. Well, that's a shout out to one of your, like to one of your, you know, ABA people, Charlene Nanninga. Yeah, Charlene! She was the one that really got that ball rolling with our... Her dad is John Leader, who was our Lifetime Achievement Award winner. And we've had John on the podcast. And we had Charlene on the podcast, too. The day we had her dad on the podcast, she was sitting right there, heckling from the peanut gallery over there. But anyways, yeah, so that's pretty cool. But yeah, Charlene's done a great job. She did a great job. She had a great vision for that. And I just want to give her a shout out because even just the way the store is laid out and it really kind of started with her. So awesome place to go, awesome place to buy stuff, awesome place to donate stuff. Yeah, I'd encourage you. Yeah, folks, check it out. It's worth it. It's worth it for sure. Okay, final question. I know you and I could keep going. I know we could go on for hours on this. I know, I know. Lori, what is the best piece of advice you've been given, personally or professionally, that you still carry with you to this day? This is where we should play the Jeopardy music. I know. No, I'm just kidding. I think it probably has to go around... And I don't think I would be able to say it right. But it has to do a little bit with just criticism that you would receive over... And I think sometimes it's amazing how you can have a lot of affirmation or a lot of compliments or whatever, positive things spoken to you, but just one negative thing, how that impacts your thoughts, right? And so there was this gentleman, I think he was a pastor in Winnipeg, and he said, Criticism is like mud on the pants. Let it dry and brush it off. And I think what that taught me was that... I mean, I take criticism and I take what I can from it. I try to grow from it. But there's other pieces of it that you just have to let go of and not let it impact you. You got to take the truth of it and kind of remove the rest. And so I think that is something that probably can challenge me the most. And I do feel very supported in my role and obviously, but I just know that negative comments can really impact, right? And it can affect our mental, sort of our perspective, right? So I think that to me has been a really helpful reminder of like, don't take things too seriously and take from it what you can and let go of the rest. Let's use our words to build people up, not tear them down. And words are the most powerful. Especially in today's world. Yeah, especially in today's world. Words are the most powerful format we have and we can either make or break it with what we say. Lori, I'm telling you, honestly, I'm going to be honest, excuse me, I'm going to be a little transparent here. You know, having you on and I wasn't sure where we were going to go with all this and... It's been just great hearing your story and just the work that Adeara is doing. And again, tell everybody what the website is again for Adeara. Adeara.ca And you can buy Recovery Coffee here. That's right. We were going to talk about that. At The Wall Coffee Roasters! We are, yes. Yes, we mentioned that at the beginning. So Michael Wall, who full transparency happens to be Lori Patrick's son-in-law. He married one of her daughters and they've done a good work with Michael over the last while. We love Mike. I know. Right now he's pretending he's not listening but he is. I can see that ear getting red and burning over there. Anyways, and so Michael is the owner of The Wall Coffee Roasters. And Michael does what they call an Adeara Recovery Coffee. And if you buy that coffee, a portion of those proceeds go to Adeara. So folks, if nothing else, come down to the coffee shop, buy a whole bunch of Adeara Coffee, give it to your family, and you'll be helping an amazing cause, an amazing cause. And I've known businesses that actually have come and just purchased bags of coffee as Christmas gifts for their staff. Just do it and you'll be helping Michael, but you'll be helping Adeara in a massive way. This has been just amazing. Sometimes, I'd like to do it again with Glenny here and have a good time with that because he's just an awesome guy. And you're an awesome person and I love you and I respect you and appreciate you and what you do. So yeah, thanks everybody. Man, this is a long one, but a good one. I wouldn't turn this one off for nothing. Don't forget, it's a game day. Well, it'll drop on Thursday, but game days, Wing Snob has the Oiler's Specials on. You can grab some wings, sit around with your family. Don't forget Mprint if you need your printing. And don't forget, why don't you check out Adeara and see if you can help them out. Make sure you tell your friends, your neighbours, your co-workers, your enemies. If you don't have any friends, make a friend just so you can tell them about the podcast. In fact, buy that friend some Adeara Coffee. That's right. That's the way to do it. And it's really awesome. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Yes, Merry Christmas. Thanks for having me and thanks for just your support. And Cam, you in particular, you have been a huge advocate and a huge ambassador of Adeara. And so thank you for your years of, I know you're tearing up just thinking about it. It's a tough one for me. Yeah, and I appreciate that so much. And you've made a difference for sure. Thanks everybody. Thanks everyone. See you next week.