through the DWCC’s homeless hockey program, to help them
recover from their addictions. The house acted as a safe place
for them to overcome their addictions, through prayer or
everyday activities. The house ran for a year and discovered
isolation and trauma to be significant elements of addiction.
Carpenter is working with Cameron on another
recovery home. This would bring an opportunity to gather
others at the Downtown Mission who are willing to participate
in a six-month recovery home to meet new people and
progress into the Glengarry house.
“We’re seeing a progress and we’re hoping to see
more guys like myself with life experience going into some of
these buildings and being a friend and a helping hand in any
way or resource,” said Carpenter.
When Carpenter earned his leadership position, he
would visit the lighthouse every day to work on the
community garden and become more involved with everyone
in the area. In the beginning, the lighthouse would serve coffee
and cookies; later going on to supply breakfast and lunch, as
well as dinners on Wednesdays at Chateau Mason, with help
from the city. The City of Windsor also provided a pantry for
the lighthouse, as well as extra storage for sports equipment,
like volleyball nets and tennis gear.
In Carpenter’s first year, he dealt with a situation
where one of his residents attempted suicide by rooftop. “[His
mom] came to me; I got him involved in volleyball and he
made captain. He never missed a day,” said Carpenter. “People
want it. When I was in Detroit, all I needed was for anyone to
say ‘Hey, let’s go for a coffee man, you’re important. You’ve got
talent; you can do it.’ I wanted that so bad but it never came
and I was aching for it.”
Carpenter helps his community by guiding others
through their fears; showing them what is necessary towards
moving down a better path.
Adrienne Brown is one of the leaders at the
lighthouse and has fulfilled her role for about 10 months. “I
see hope in this community. I just wanted to be a part of
something I knew was going to be a positive thing for me.”
Brown was offered a leadership role after sharing her story
with Carpenter and developed a bond when discovering they
were both from Nova Scotia.
When Carpenter is forced to kick someone out of the
house such as drug dealers or other people creating a
disturbance, he does it calmly.
“I don’t have to yell or scream or rant and rave. I don’t
have to call them names. They don’t want the confrontation;
mention the police once and they’ll run. What you do in your
own home is up to you, what you bring into the hallways is my
problem,” said Carpenter. “There’s people you have to call the
police on, on a regular basis. I’ve chased people in and out of
the building. I’ve ran around the Glengarry complex with the
police department trying to find one guy.”
Carpenter is seen as a role model around Glengarry
and is able to bring everyone to an agreement when conflict
rises. “When your character’s being insulted, how do you
respond to that? You can’t respond in hate, you can’t respond
in anger, you’ve just got to continue to smile [and] let them
wear it. So they see a light there, because if I was angry and
hateful because he said that [something hateful], that’s not
light…that’s dark, just like them.”
“We love them anyway, we love those who come
against us and we see it, we see the regret in their eyes for the
things they’ve said. People who have gotten involved with the
lighthouse, gotten involved with community efforts that are
out there have found a better quality of life that’s a lot more
filling than being with the dope.”
“The Lighthouse” one of the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative’s neighbourhood projects
is located in the Glengarry neighbourhood.