Courage To Come Back: Addictions winner mentors others away from gangs and drugs
Posted April 7, 2014 6:43 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – He’s gone from tough guy, to addict, to finally: mentor.
News1130’s series of Courage To Come Back profiles continues with the story of Joe Calendino, the winner in the addictions category.
“I just walked through those doors one day and that was it. It took a second. And that was all,” he explains.
“Before Grade 12, I had done MDMA, marijuana, cocaine, and various other drugs — you know, whatever was available to us in the early 80s.”
Calendino was raised in a working class Italian household in East Vancouver, in a part of town where drugs were never that hard to find.
Growing up, he was good with his fists, but smart too.
Soon he was a full patch member of the Hells Angels, but his addiction became so severe, he was kicked out of the biker gang.
“It started with a couple of members from the Vancouver Police force putting their hand into the grave when I was a drug addict in the Lower East Side,” he remembers.
A number of officers thought his story could serve as a cautionary tale, beginning the next phase of his life.
“‘Oh yeah, we got somebody that we want to take to the schools to talk to kids.'”
That was the start of “Yo Bro” and today, Joe’s program makes him an in-demand speaker at local schools.
“Yo Bro youth initiative is a drug and gang prevention based model that does various different programs.”
His message is simple, but effective:
“You know, the world is your oyster, you can achieve whatever you want to achieve… look at me.”
But he says ultimately, the it is up to the individual to seek and accept help. “It is up to you, for nobody is going to ever say, ‘Here it is’ in a box.”
For Calendino, the ultimate payoff is seeing others learn from his mistakes. “When they come up and say the words that… you changed my life… and when you hear it over and over and over again, there’s no dollar value you could ever attach to that.”
“You know, I have four boys that are my world. Truly look in your children’s eyes and [ask] is that what you would want for your children? Or other children? I’m pretty sure 99.999 per cent of the time, you’re going to say ‘no.'”
News1130 is a proud sponsor of the Courage To Come Back Awards, handed out May 8th in Vancouver.
