EDITOR’S NOTE: Sarnia-Lambton is struggling with an unprecedented addiction crisis, generating plenty of news about overdoses and homelessness. But sometimes there is recovery. And it’s anticipated that new government investment in local services and facilities will bring additional relief. The award-winning team of journalist Cathy Dobson and photographer Glenn Ogilvie set out this past winter to find individuals who have experienced serious alcohol and drug addictions, and who found their own path to recovery. Below, you can find the full supplement which appeared in The Independent May 14, 2026. Watch here for further stories.

Cathy Dobson/Local Journalism Inititiave

Doug Waybrant has been sober for 37 years and says he knows a thing or two about it.

“Listen to me,” says the 83-year-old. “I’ve seen it all. I have so many stories, some you would not believe. But they’re true. I know what I’m talking about.”

Waybrant was born in 1943 and grew up in Bright’s Grove with 10 siblings. When his father drank, he hit the kids, Waybrant said.

He first tasted alcohol when he was in Grade 7 behind the Bright’s Grove variety store. He remembers sharing a bottle of sweet Mogen David wine with a buddy.

“I thought, ‘This is fun,’ and I never looked back.”

For decades, Waybrant lived a life of truancy, reform school, and jail. He drank daily, smoked hash oil and became addicted to 222 tablets, an over-the-counter pain reliever containing codeine.

He spent years busking, sometimes managing a temporary job, and says he married twice. He travelled across Canada and was arrested regularly for theft, break-ins and assault.

It was a hard life jammed with misadventure, said Waybrant, but sobriety at age 46 brought some stability. He got his driver’s licence and a job moving furniture. He learned to control his temper and to think before he acted.

He also thought a lot about what helps get people into recovery and what keeps them there.
Government should take more action, he said.

“I want a new federal law that says if you’re drunk and passed out on the sidewalk, you must be taken to detox, not the drunk tank. That’s what saved me,” he said.

And Canada badly needs affordable housing. Without a safe place to live, recovery isn’t possible, said Waybrant.

“You can’t get clean on the street. I’ve slept in parks. I know what it’s like to be dirty and to need a meal. It gives you a bad attitude,” he said. “How the heck are you going to clean up?”

He was living in a rented room in Winnipeg when he went into recovery. Ironically, it was a police officer who helped him, a surprise since Waybrant had always regarded the law as the enemy.

It was 1989 and he had been drinking for 30 years.

“I was right out of it. I’d smashed the window at my place,” he said.

“This young officer said, ‘I’m going to give you a cup of coffee and we’re going to talk and we’re going to make a deal.’”

Waybrant told him he didn’t want to make a deal. He just wanted to be left alone in a jail cell.

“But he said I wasn’t going there. Instead he took me to the Salvation Army on Winnipeg’s east side, and they put me in the basement there for three months to detox. They took care of me and fed me.”

He embraced the opportunity. “I was tired of having no life at all. I was tired of being in jail.” He hasn’t had a drink or taken a pill since. While in detox, he started attending 12-step programs and proudly wears a ring of medallions around his neck to celebrate his sobriety.

“I’ve done 24 steps, maybe more,” he said.

“I’ve decided I am never going back to pills or drinking or marijuana. It’s a fear I have that I don’t want to go back in jail.” He even quit smoking three years ago.

Waybrant can’t shake the memory of one experience he had at the Winnipeg Salvation Army.
He was invited to walk outside to a dumpster with a volunteer who appeared to be throwing out a tray of sandwiches.

“He said to me, ‘Take a look down inside that dumpster, Doug.’ And I looked and said there’s a bunch of animals in there eating the sandwiches. He said, no, those are humans just like you who will eat anything in that dumpster. If you mess up when you leave here, you’re going to end up in there.’”

Waybrant returned to Sarnia several years ago and initially lived in the shelter system.

In 2023, he was offered a basement room rental for $700 a month. His $1000 disability cheque more than covered the cost and he jumped at the chance.

“But it turned out that it wasn’t a good place for me,” he said. “There were people taking drugs in that house and there was a bad bug problem.” He thought he’d have to return to the street.

But a friend put him in contact with Lambton County housing and a worker there helped him search for a new room.

“I was told the waiting list for an apartment I can afford is 300 people long. There’s nothing out there to rent,” Waybrant said. He finally found a room in a house on Brock Street with a family that recently moved to a house on Christina Street South and agreed he could move with them.

“We’re all trying to make it work,” he said.

“But it’s hard because I’m this old guy and they are young.” He pays $1,000 a month for room and board and says it’s affordable for him because he has his Ontario Social Assistance cheque to top up his income.

“But here’s my plan. Oh, you’ll love this one,” he said drawing closer. “I like the tiny homes like what they’re doing in London.

“Not everyone’s going to get along with me. I know that, so I want somewhere that’s independent.

“I’m 83 years old and I don’t smoke and I don’t drink and I don’t take drugs. I’d just like a place of my own.”

Where to find help

• Alcoholics Anonymous – 519-337-5211 www.aasarnialambton.com
• Narcotics Anonymous – 1-800-573-0920 www.orscna.org
• Canadian Mental Health Lambton Kent – 519-337-5411 www.lambtonkent.cmha.ca
• 24/7 Canadian Mental Health Crisis Line – 519-336-3445 or 1-800-307-4319
• Drug Addiction Hotline – 1-800-721-3232
• Distress Line (Family Counselling Centre) – 519-336-3000
• Bluewater Health Community Addiction Support – outpatient and walk-in services, crisis intervention, counselling, treatment referrals, for people in Sarnia-Lambton who struggle with substance abuse. Phone 519-332-4673 or email possible@bluewaterhealth.ca. Location: Bluewater Health, Level 6, Russell Building, 89 Norman St. Sarnia.
• Bluewater Health Acute Withdrawal Management – includes inpatient, 7-bed unit for detox for three – five days. Self referral. Counselling. 24/7 519-464-4487
• Bluewater Health Ryan’s House Stabilization Facility, a second-stage withdrawal management facility. Offers 12 beds for men and women over 16 to stay up to one month for early recovery following detox. 306 Exmouth St. Sarnia.
• HART (Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment) Hub – recently opened in Sarnia. Two locations. 30-bed residential facility (up to 18 months) considered the third stage for recovery in Sarnia-Lambton, following detox and Ryan’s House. 275 Wellington St. (formerly SCITS high school).
• HART Hub drop-in at 210 Lochiel St. offers recovery support services, showers, laundry, a kitchen, health care referrals, help finding housing, employment, and mental health supports.
• Suicide Crisis Helpline – 9-8-8 (call or text)
• Community Health Integrated Care (CHIC Team) Daily, on-scene interventions, rapid response, withdrawal management.
• MobileCare – Community Health Outreach. Travels across urban and rural S-L with free, walk in services. No appointment required. Primary care, mental health care, addictions services, withdrawal management services and referrals. 1-866-299-7447. www.sl.mobilecareclinic.ca.
• Bluewater Methadone Clinic S-L at 118 Victoria St. in Sarnia. 519-337-5000.
• Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point Health Services for mental health and addictions at 6275 Indian Lane, Lambton Shores. 519-786-5647.
• Youth Wellness Hub – 190 Front St. for ages 12 – 25 and their families. Crisis/Walk in support, case management, psychotherapy, peer support, addiction services, nurse practitioner, drop in activity groups, fitness activities, family support, housing support and vocational services. 519-491-1466
• Redpath (Inn of the Good Shepherd on John St. Sarnia) Addictions treatment using an Indigenous specific model. Clinical and cultural approaches in a group setting. Call 519-344-1746 ext. 338.
• Lambton College personal and mental health counselling – available free to all full and part-time students.

Regional longer term residential rehab facilities:

• Westover Treatment Centre in Thamesville, call 1-800-721-3232;
• Renascent Addiction Centre in Toronto, call 1-866-232-1212;
• Residence at Homewood and Health Centre in Guelph, call 1-438-258-5460;
• Brentwood Recovery House in Windsor, call 519-253-2441;
• Hope Place in Milton, call 905-878-1120.