Fresh Start Recovery

Tonight was a beautiful reminder of what recovery looks like when it has time to grow.

Across Calgary and Lethbridge, we celebrated a lot of milestones. Many of them were early ones, and every one of them mattered.

But what stood out most was looking around the rooms and seeing families together. Parents, partners, friends, and children celebrating alongside the people they love. Some of those children have never known their mom or dad to pick up a drink or a drug.

Think about what that means.

Recovery changes a life, but it also changes what a family gets to experience. It changes what children grow up seeing. It creates memories that addiction once took away and, over time, replaces them with something different.

There was also a lot of talk tonight about selflessness and service. People spoke about wanting to give back, not only to Fresh Start and the recovery community that stood beside them, but to the communities they live in.

That matters too.

Recovery gives us an opportunity to become someone others can rely on. To show up for our families. To help the next person. To contribute. To take what was freely given to us and give some of it away.

To everyone who celebrated a milestone tonight, congratulations. And to the families, friends, alumni, clients and staff who filled those rooms and celebrated alongside them, thank you.

We are grateful to be part of it.

Our Milestone Meeting is happening this Wednesday, September 23 at 6:30 p.m.

We are gathering one week early as Fresh Start will observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation next Wednesday, September 30.

Join us as we recognize recovery milestones, celebrate the people doing the work, and connect with our Fresh Start alumni community across Calgary and Lethbridge.

To receive the meeting link, please email [email protected]

Today was a good day for recovery in Calgary.

Our alumni, treatment alumni, family alumni, clients and staff came together downtown with friends from across the recovery community. Some we see all the time. Some we have not seen in a while. That is part of what made today so good.

Recovery has a way of bringing people back together.

We talk a lot about community at Fresh Start, but days like today are where you actually see it. Alumni standing alongside people who are just beginning. Families who have walked their own road through addiction and recovery. Different organizations, different approaches and different experiences, all sharing the same space and supporting the same thing. There is something important in that.

It was also pretty special watching New Autumn take the stage. The band is made up of Fresh Start and Last Door alumni who found one another through recovery and started making music together. Today they were up there playing Recovery Day Calgary, on the same stage that would later welcome Tom Cochrane.

That does not happen by accident. It happens when people get opportunities. When they stay connected. When communities make room for people to find out what life can become in recovery.

We are grateful to our friends at Last Door for the work that goes into bringing a day like this together, and to the Government of Alberta for continuing to stand behind recovery and support opportunities for people and communities to connect. We are also grateful for the support of the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, Rick Wilson, and his team. It was meaningful to have Bruce there with them and to see that support for recovery reflected in the day.

The weather could not have been better. The music was great. But from where we stood, the best part was looking around and seeing people together.

Old friends. New friends. Families. Clients. Alumni. Staff.

A recovery community.

We are grateful to be part of it.

One year ago, alongside others from the recovery community in Calgary some of our clients and Alumni stepped a little outside their comfort zone.

They walked a runway.

Fresh Start was proud to stand alongside Aventa Centre of Excellence for Women with Addictions and Calgary Dream Centre as a presenting partners of the inaugural Sober Runway, and what we saw went far beyond fashion.

We saw confidence, connection, support and a whole lot of fun. Our clients and Alumni had an incredible experience, and so did we.

That is why we are proud to return as a Presenting Sponsor for the 2nd Annual Sober Runway.

Sober Runway brings recovery and creative expression together, giving people in recovery a chance to be seen, heard and celebrated while helping break down stigma.

📅 Saturday, September 26
⏰ 1:00 to 4:00 PM
📍 Platform Calgary, 407 9 Avenue SE
🎟️ Tickets are $75
🌐 soberrunway.com

The event wraps up Recovery Week Calgary, and there are still tickets available.

Come celebrate recovery with us, support the people stepping onto that runway, and be part of a community that shows up for one another.

We had a heck of a good time last year.

We’re ready to do it again.

Last Friday’s Gratitude Ceremony at our Lethbridge Facility was full of the moments that matter most: families reconnecting, community gathering, milestones being recognized and people being welcomed home.

A huge congratulations to everyone who completed their treatment program. You have earned your place in the Fresh Start Alumni community, with continued connection, support and a recovery community that will always have a place for you.

Recovery is never just one person’s accomplishment. It is the people who keep showing up, the families who continue to believe, and the community that reminds each person they are no longer alone.

Welcome to the alumni. We are proud of you.

Greenview became one enormous outdoor gallery this weekend. 🎨

We were proud to be part of the 2026 Greenview Graffiti Jam, organized through the Greenview Industrial BIA alongside The Foundation Collective.

More than 60 artists from across Canada spent the weekend transforming walls, vehicles and unexpected corners of the neighbourhood into incredible works of public art. Sunday brought the community together for live painting, graffiti workshops, music, dance and the opportunity to watch these artists create up close.

Fresh Start volunteers helped throughout the weekend, and on Sunday we had the chance to spend time with artists, families, neighbours, local businesses and friends from across the community. The artwork is truly incredible, and these photos offer only a small glimpse of what was created.

Greenview is not simply where our Calgary facility is located. It is a neighbourhood we are proud to belong to.

While this building was being developed, Fresh Start helped establish Calgary’s first Good Neighbour Agreement with Greenview, Thorncliffe and Highland Park. Since moving here in 2012, we have remained committed to that agreement by showing up, participating and working alongside others to make our neighbourhood stronger.

That commitment runs deep. Fresh Start was built in Alberta and has been serving Albertans and their families since 1992. For nearly 34 years, we have believed that strong communities are built when people take care of one another, work together and take pride in the place they call home.

Thank you to the Greenview Industrial BIA, The Foundation Collective, every participating artist and everyone who helped make this weekend possible. We deeply value our ongoing connection and collaboration with the BIA and the work we continue doing together to make Greenview a safer, stronger and more welcoming place.

These photos are only the beginning. Visit the Greenview Industrial page and explore its Art and Mural Map to discover the new pieces and the incredible artwork already located throughout the neighbourhood:

https://www.greenviewindustrial.com/art

Greenview truly is where industry meets artist