our history
Recent activity
The president's report for our last annual general meeting is here.
Origins
- From Grief to Action (FGTA) began with two sets of parents in west-side Vancouver who disclosed to each other that a family member was suffering from an addiction to illegal drugs. This discovery opened their eyes to the existence of other apparently untroubled families struggling with the same tragedy.
- With the encouragement of Rev. Kevin Dixon at St. Mary's Church in Kerrisdale, they formed a support group. Participants focused on helping each other move beyond feelings of shame, perceived guilt, helplessness and grief.
- After a year, during which several invited speakers came to help shed light on their shared situation, the group realized that it wasn't just the disease of addiction that was an increasingly pervasive problem, it was the scarcity of treatment programs.
- The parents resolved to raise awareness by reaching out as an interest group to community members, the media and politicians. Having decided to move "from grief to action," they created a vision statement (mandate) for the group.
FGTA unknowingly became the face of addiction in the family because, as outspoken middle class urbanites, the members reached a large audience. Community members were startled to learn that the problem, most often attributed to the Downtown East Side, was also a problem on the affluent west side. Others were relieved that the silence and self-imposed shame had been broken: drug addiction could happen in any family.
Early days
- St. Mary's Church became not only the meeting place for the newly incorporated society but also its administrative mainstay. The church secretary generously expanded her workload to support the inaugural President, Secretary and Treasurer in their tasks.
- Financial support came from memberships, and from private gifts and memorial bequests — the most poignant of all marking the loss of a family member from drug-related causes.
- Project support was gratefully received from the United Way of the Lower Mainland, The Christmas Family Ball Society, and the (former) Ministry of Community Development. Project fundraising is time-intensive, however. The officers' administrative workload — particularly that of then-president Nichola Hall — grew to an unwieldy level as the society grew.
- The Board's next big decision was to engage an Executive Director, and Fran Romer was named to this role in 2007.
Our Founders
Nichola and Ray Hall and their neighbours, Rob and Susie Ruttan, never dreamed that heroin would be a problem they'd have to deal with. Yet, as they struggled to find resources and solutions for their children's problems, they discovered other parents right in their own neighborhood dealing with the same nightmare.
As a crown prosecutor for many years, Rob Ruttan had seen that traditional criminal justice approaches were failing to deal with the problem of drug use. The issue really struck home when a member of his own family became addicted to heroin. Alongside the Halls and Rob's wife, Susie, Rob was actively involved with FGTA through its first ten years as it grew from an informal support group to a productive non-profit charitable society. (Susie was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of her service to the community through her work for FGTA.) The founders have spoken out often on issues of concern to FGTA members, in interviews, speeches and as members of numerous committees.
The Ruttans now serve on the Board for Portage BC at The Crossing -- the publicly funded youth treatment centre that is realization of their long-time dream to make Portage treatment available to B.C. youth in their home province.
On June 5, 2013, the Halls were re-elected to FGTA's Board of Directors for the most recent of several two-year terms they have served, most as executive officers.
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