A celebration of recovery and connection brought together alumni, families, and staff at St. Joseph’s Addiction Recovery Centre in Estevan as they hosted their third annual alumni barbecue earlier this month.
The event welcomed approximately 250 people, a significant growth from previous years. Organizers say the day was about much more than food and games. It was about community, connection, and celebrating lives reclaimed from addiction.
“Our whole spirit here is about giving back and connecting with the community,” said Desiree Bragg, who supports admissions and event coordination at the center. “The opposite of addiction is connection, so the purpose of bringing everybody together is to celebrate recovery, celebrate living our best lives, and give the community and our alumni a really great opportunity to connect with each other.”
Guests enjoyed a full afternoon of activities, including live music performed by members of the sober living community, a kids' corner with a bouncy castle, balloon animals, temporary tattoos, and complimentary ice cream for the children. Southern Plains Co-op donated food and cakes, each inscribed with “Celebration of Recovery,” a gesture Bragg said reflected the strong support from local businesses and partners.
Shelby Dunigan-Freundl, the centre’s clinical supervisor, said this year’s barbecue showed how the event is growing not only in size but in meaning.
“It’s crucial for recovery,” Dunigan-Freundl explained. “It’s so powerful to see someone come in on day one, absolutely defeated, isolated, hopeless, and then watch them build relationships with their peers and counsellors. That’s where they discover true, genuine connection, and that’s where they find their purpose.”
It took a team of about 30 to 40 volunteers to make the barbecue possible, with many of those volunteers being alumni and patients themselves. “Our volunteers and alumni are the freshest hope that our program can work,” she added. “It really lights up the eyes of newcomers when they see people who’ve been where they are, now giving back.”
While the barbecue is a major community event, St. Joseph’s also hosts quarterly Cake Nights to celebrate alumni milestones in recovery. These gatherings recognize sobriety achievements and give people a space to reconnect.
“Those cake nights are so powerful,” Dunigan-Freundl said. “You watch someone take a day, then 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and eventually a year or two. It’s contagious hope.”
Alumni are also encouraged to stay involved in community service throughout Estevan, whether it’s volunteering at the local fair, supporting the Humane Society, or helping out with Fresh Air Fitness events. Service work is a core part of the program’s philosophy, with the goal of helping people maintain connection beyond the treatment center.
Looking ahead, organizers hope to expand the alumni program to include more cultural components, including Indigenous drumming and a teepee raising.
“I would love to, at some point, have some Indigenous drumming entertainment and a teepee raising,” said Bragg. “As we build relationships with the community, those are the kinds of meaningful additions we’d love to bring in.”
For Bragg, one moment from this year’s barbecue stood out. At the end of the day, an alumni volunteer who had experienced homelessness and isolation told her, “I have never felt this connected in my whole life.”
“That’s the best feeling in the world,” Bragg said. “Connection unlocks the next level of recovery. And once you feel that, there’s no going back.”