Max’s story is a message of optimism

By the age of 13, Max House was smoking cannabis. At 14, his substance abuse became a methamphetamine addiction. “I was using every day from marijuana to meth ... everything I could use, I would use,” he said. Mr House said his family dynamic was “blown apart” by meth addiction, with his sister drawing him into the drug, which led to a horrific four-year battle with meth. Now the 22-year-old Albany man has been “mostly clean” for four years, but admits a couple of “minor” relapses along the way. Mr House credits his success in beating addiction largely to Margaret Gordon and her Access 2 Recovery program. “(Without them) I’d still be out there chasing drugs, 20kg lighter than I am now,” he said. “My health would be suffering. I wouldn’t be seeing my family and I’d be isolating myself to use drugs, slowly killing myself.” Mr House has bravely shared his drug addiction battle in the hope that other users take the first step to recovery like he did with Ms Gordon. “This is the best place for you,” he said. “It’s given me tools to identify where I might slip up and where I could relapse. “I’m avoiding any situation that could (be) putting me under that stress and finding ways of helping me cope with day-to-day life without the drug.” Ms Gordon — a psychologist and former prison counsellor — said the doors of Access 2 Recovery at Fellowship House in Centennial Park were always open to those in need. “I’m here from 9am to 3pm every day,” Ms Gordon said. She said the volunteer-run program aims to offer a safe and holistic approach to treating addiction in a region without a residential drug rehabilitation facility. “It’s about people supporting each other through adversity. It’s just so so important that people have somewhere they can walk into,” she said. “It takes a lot of courage to walk through the door and say ‘I need help’.” Group sessions run every Thursday and Friday and there are family support meetings twice a month.