Looking to beat addiction, N.W.T. woman heads north and finds help

People in the N.W.T. looking for help with addiction often head south. 

The territory doesn't have its own addiction treatment facilities, so that's where it sends people who are looking to recover. But Patricia Jaeb is celebrating sobriety during this year's National Addictions Awareness Week after taking a markedly different approach. 

She went north, finding support among women in her home community of Tsiigehtchic, N.W.T., instead. 

"The Western way does not work for some of us Indigenous people," she told Marc Winkler, guest host of CBC's Trailbreaker. "I really feel that on the land is where the healing begins, and I needed to get rerouted again to find myself, and that's where I found it, was on my homeland."

Jaeb said she hit rock bottom in November 2019.

Her partner had decided to go to rehab, and she was alone. 

"I was so lost and I was so broken. I was just a shattered person." 

Jaeb had a ticket for a flight home to Tsiigehtchic, but struggled with whether to go because she felt she'd burned too many bridges there. She was afraid of being judged for her struggle with crack cocaine, but she boarded the plane anyway. 

"I'm really grateful and blessed that I did go home, because I was able to get rerouted, reconnected with myself and my people," said Jaeb. She also had the opportunity to take classes through Aurora College, which helped build her confidence. 

Jaeb credits two women in her community, Doris Koe and Alison Clark, for supporting her along the way. Koe remembers distinctly the moment Jaeb showed up on her doorstep. 

"I welcomed her in, gave her a big hug," said Koe. Then they settled down in the living room, drank tea, and caught up on each other's lives. "Right then and there, I knew Patricia was being true to herself and true to myself and my sister and we just talked." 

It was something Clark remembered too. 

"When I saw her, I just, I felt like this was her time, that she was going to change," Clark said. "She came out into the community. She attended everything, she came to the band office for coffee and she sat and talked with everyone … you can really tell that she wanted to recover." 

But the journey wasn't easy. 

Clark and Koe both remember times when Jaeb wanted to give up and travel to Inuvik, saying she needed groceries or supplies. They were worried about why she wanted to go there, and would offer to travel there to get her the supplies instead. 

Jaeb remembers those days too. 

"I wanted to come back to Yellowknife and finish off, you know, practicing my addiction … that destructive lifestyle that I got so used to," she said. 

"She just wanted to get up and leave," said Koe. "Get up and leave all the hard work that she had already done with us, and there was times where we had to make ourselves available."

But Clark and Koe say the effort they put into helping Jaeb was worth it, and their bonds with each other have grown strong.

"Without them, I wouldn't be where I am today," said Jaeb. 

"She's one of my best friends," said Clark.

"We both call each other on our hard days and on our good days when we have exciting news to tell each other ... we're very close. We haven't been this close in so many years and it feels really, it feels really good to be a part of her life."

Jaeb is sharing her story to show people who are struggling, especially young adults, that there's a reason for hope. 

"Just keep reaching out, picking up that phone when you have those hard days, and you know, always know that you're not alone."