From alcohol to drug addiction,
Virginia Hamilton deals with daily crisis.
As director of the Ottawa Detox Centre, she leads a 25-member
staff that guides about 2,800 men and women a year through the
early stages of recovery. It’s the only centre of its kind
in Ottawa.
Hamilton’s words offer the best glimpse, apart from experience,
into her work environment.
“There are incredible challenges,” she says. “It
is one of the few places where a person is so totally exposed
to addiction. That can be very unsettling. Some describe it as
the gateway to hell. A place where they can get help from the
hell they’ve lived in.”
One of Hamilton’s toughest personal challenges is to quickly
shift emotional gears. She relates a recent day in which she
was working on pressing administrative work when met suddenly
with a phone call from a distressed mother dealing with her addict
son.
“I don’t know how I do it,” she says. “All
I can tell you is that it is the job at hand and it must be done.
It’s the residents and staff that really propel me.”
To say that Hamilton simply works at the centre does little to
illustrate her devotion. Her office is filled with memorabilia
that document the centre’s history. A news story depicting
its original home on Murray Street is framed above her desk.
A large album filled with letters, newspaper clippings and other
special documents is kept next to her work station.
Hamilton says that her past reveals why she is consumed by what
might seem a bleak profession. A distant relative ran a detox
centre in the early 1900s in Montreal, where she was born. In
the 1930s and 1940s, other members of her family were part of
the Oxford Group, a religious organization that influenced Alcoholics
Anonymous meetings.
“It’s very much a calling,” she says. “It
is so deeply etched that it’s hard at times to define. Except
to say that there are no hours, no definition in that regard.
There’s a recognition that this really can be life and death.”
Hamilton, an articulate woman in her 50s, has been with the centre,
which consists of four row-houses on Bruyere Street, since 1985.
The centre has existed since 1974, when it opened its doors on
Murray Street at a location formerly housing a liquor store.
She entered the addictions field in the 1970s after attending
both Carleton University and Algonquin College. She became curious
about the centre, as many of her patients had stints there. In
1985, she applied to work there.
She has since become unwaveringly committed to helping some of
the city’s most sick and helpless.
Of Hamilton’s many daily challenges, none cause her more
grief than the ongoing battle to keep the centre’s doors
open. The centre was forced to scale back in 2003, reducing the
number of beds from 26 to 20. Six supervisors were also lost.
The Sisters of Charity of Ottawa Health Service (SCO) decided
last year that it was no longer able to sponsor the centre, making
a closure likely. A six-month extension, however, was given to
the centre, which was scheduled to shut down Oct. 1. Discussions
with the ministry of health have ensued, with Montfort Hospital
stepping in as the likely successor to SCO. A decision must be
made by March.
The cuts, while causing quite a scare, have given the centre
a chance to show its importance. A letter-writing campaign to
politicians and a 5,000-signature petition has helped increase
awareness of the centre, Hamilton says. First time admissions
have shot up 30 per cent because of the attention, she says.
Hamilton has responded to the reduced resources by picking up
the slack herself. She has made herself available at all hours
of the day, stepping in to fill the void if any other staff can’t
make a shift. She often shows up at the centre in the late evening
just to make sure all is well.
Jean-Françios Brunelle, vice-president of human resources
for SCO, says Hamilton has a work ethic seldom seen today.
“In an era where people don’t always have passion for
their jobs, there’s the idea of being selfless, you find
less and less of that.” he says. “But she’s of
that generation where those things are important factors in what
you do in life. It helps her get personal satisfaction from the
work she does.”
Bill Hayden, chair of the detox advisory board, says Hamilton
offers uncommon skills to the centre’s residents.
“It’s very hard to get people who are really concerned
about the clients and knowledgeable,” he says. “You
must have a couple of things to be of use in the field she’s
in. One is work ethic and two is the ability to work with people
and be empathetic, and she has that,” he says. “That
takes a lot of energy in that system on a continual basis.”
Hamilton shifts gears and re-energizes by maintaining a balanced
life away from the centre.
She is a spiritual person, describing her lifestyle as natural,
healthy, and holistic. She credits that lifestyle for her ability
to continue working at a job that could easily wear a person
out.
She lives in the Gatineau hills in the town of Old Chelsea with
her partner of many years. She spends much of her downtime cross-country
skiing, snowshoeing, and swimming. She enjoys the healing powers
of the land, calling it soothing and therapeutic.
“I find that very energizing,” she says. “I’m
very grateful for who I am and the health I’m in.”
The experience she gained in her youth has also helped guide
her in her work. She thanks her parents, whom she describes as
adventurous people, for their interest in the diverse cultures
of the world. Her father was a chemical engineer and her mother
an author and reporter for the Daily Star in Beirut.
Their curiosity took Hamilton from her birthplace in Montreal
to stints throughout her childhood in Beirut, Turkey, Switzerland,
England and Spain. Along the way she learned four languages:
English, French, Arabic and Spanish. She settled in Ottawa in
her 20s.
She says her travels have allowed her to look at the world differently
than most people.
“I’m just so grateful that I was able to be part of
this incredible journey and the challenges of various realities
and observing and appreciating different cultures,” she
says. “I find myself now here in Canada very appreciative
of the lifestyle that is possible here.”
She has put her experience to good use at the centre. She has
also learned much from the residents who pass through.
“I often, after meeting with an individual, express my appreciation,”
she says. “I’ve found over 28 years that clients and
residents also teach you. And I’m grateful to them. It helps
me really focus on the important elements, and what really is
important here.” |