If you attended Our Place’s annual Coldest Night of the Year walkathon in the past two years, you would have heard from an inspiring New Roads graduate. Sean Woodford is a charismatic public speaker and whenever he has the opportunity to share his story, he does it with humility and a refreshing openness.

But, on his journey through addiction and recovery, things looked much different for Sean.

“Growing up we traveled around a lot, I never learned how to maintain relationships with people.”

He describes a childhood fraught with fear and stress, as he and his mother spent most of his young years in hiding from his father. At the same time, his mother’s own addiction issues meant she wasn’t able to reliably care for him. Most often, he would spend stints of time with relatives, especially his brother who was 13 years older and who he credits with raising him in earnest.

“I was part of the generation of ‘suck it up and have a beer,’” he explains, when asked about how he dealt with such a hard childhood.

Barely out of his teens, Sean married young and welcomed two daughters with his first wife. Through his marriage and bringing up his children, Sean spent much of his time on the road as a salesman. He kept a rolodex beside his bed with reminders of the date and his location, as the constant movement left him disoriented and isolated.

“It was way harder on me than I knew at the time. The isolation, the loneliness.”

Things first became untenable during his divorce and increasingly being away from his children. He participated in several of the common 30-60-90 day addiction recovery programs after this. Nothing ever worked out.

“When I first hit a detox program, they explained the risk was that I could blow up my life or cause some health problems. Nowadays, the risk is death.”

Through the years, Sean did his best to keep his head above water. But, after a tumultuous second divorce, extreme strain on his mental health, and subsequently being forced to temporarily live in his car—it seemed impossible.

One day, several years ago now, he drove down to Victoria where his older daughter and grandchildren had been living for many years. He held on with hopes of just saying his goodbyes to the people he cares about most. He didn’t expect he would make it even a few days more.

Sean celebrates summer with his grandchildren

Here in Victoria, in a local hotel, Sean experienced a breakdown like never before. But, in what he thought were his final moments, the thought of his daughters and grandchildren spurred him to reach for help one more time.

His memories of this night are blurry, but Sean remembers 9-1-1 was called and he was taken to the hospital. As he recovered, he was visited by a representative from a partner of Our Place in recovery, the Umbrella Society. They referred him to New Roads, and he gratefully moved into his new home.

His first days were hard. Sean admits he felt extremely guilty just for focusing on himself when he entered New Roads—a feeling that had been a barrier to recovery his whole life. Things started to change after one of many heart-to-heart talks with Manager, Lee Sundquist, who now manages the new women’s program. “I always thought I would do the treatment, then go back to the work and life I knew, and just try again” But, New Roads is a turning point for its residents, and through the guidance of Lee and his counsellors, Sean made that change.

New Roads manager, Lee Sundquist, supports Sean while he tells his story at Coldest Night of the Year 2025

Instead of going back to how things were after graduation, he moved into Jaymac Place—the extremely successful second- stage home made available to New Roads graduates by Our Place. Brooke, his Continuing Care Coordinator, meets with him regularly to support him. He also applied for every available role at Our Place until he was hired on as a Housing Support Worker at the Community Centre at 919 Pandora Ave.

Today, Sean is full of hope. He aspires to ultimately get the training and qualifications needed to apply at New Roads where he wants be a case worker for new residents. As an alumni, he is always welcome to come back and visit, in particular for the regular celebrations held for graduations and milestones.

And his relationship with his daughters and grandchildren?

“It’s 10x better!!”

He’s proud to not only have reconnected with them, but thanks to his stability—he feels like he can once again be a parent and support them when they need it.

From crisis to stability, he’s a perfect example of where the pathway can lead at Our Place. When asked what strikes him most about all the praise he has received for his speeches and the good work he’s doing now, Sean smiles and simply says, “It’s such a cool thing when you get to a place where you’re finally just content with yourself.”