“
I remember being in those situations where it was hard to look a bank teller in the eye. There was a
fear to go and deal with it because there was a fear of being in trouble,” said Hughie Carpenter, 52,
the peer support worker for the lighthouse who lives on property and is a shining example of what
the lighthouse is trying to accomplish. “That fear kept me away from what I was supposed to do and all I
did was increase my problem. I love that line ‘There can be no courage if there isn’t any fear.’ There’s no
courage, [because] there has to be fear.”
Carpenter is an ex-con from Nova Scotia, who has seen his share of biker gangs, drugs and
prostitution.
“I did all the jails in [Detroit]; I did them all in Nova Scotia. I know the drug scene, the heroin
[and] the cocaine. I know what it is like to have a woman prostituting to get that sort of thing; how that
makes a man feel; how that diminishes a person,” said Carpenter. “Those hurtful things in life where your
parents have been divorced or we’ve gone through rape; those are the things that I’ve gone through, but [I
have] come out on the other side.”
By the time Carpenter turned 27, he realized the path he was on would only lead to darkness, so
he turned to the light.
“My story and my testimony to them (the community) is an encou ragement that they can do it.
There’s a way out. Together as a partner, as a friend, as a brother, as a father, whatever you see me as, I’ll
stand beside you and we’ll get through this together.”
The house is partnered with the Community University Partnership, Community Housing
Corporation and is a project from the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative. The DWCC is a
group of friends working together on renewing downtown, with their motto being “a great place to grow
up, and a great place to grow old.” They are known for renewing the city by creating neighbourhood
communities, where neighbours can connect through their stories.
Carpenter started his path to recovery through the DWCC’s River’s Edge men’s house, where they
took in homeless, ex-cons, recovering addicts and anyone else in need of a safe place. After living in the
house for a year, Carpenter discovered Christianity and continued his path towards a positive and sober
life.
“He transitioned from an instability like near-homelessness; living just from place to place.
Caught the bug for what the Collaborative is doing and was willing to move in and do peer support work
and living inside Glengarry,” said Bob Cameron, executive director for the DWCC.
With the men’s house succeeding, it was decided to apply the same structure for a women’s
transitional home. That house closed down after a couple of years due to the realization that women face
greater challenges than men face.
Women deal with the stress of caring for their
children, addictions, street trafficking, deep emotional
wounds and other traumatic experiences. For the house
to work effectively, a proper support system would need
to be put in place.
Another project was the recovery house, run in
partnership with St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. The
project consisted of helping four men who were selected
Just call Hughie Carpenter one of the ‘lighthouse
keepers’ helping to guide others to a safe shore
in Windsor’s core.