RJ and Mel

“It's like we don't even have time to really grieve properly…it just seems like one after another. Like we just don't even want to know after a weekend what's going on.”

“He taught me that… you know, don't be too hard on yourself if you slip. Just get back and move on. Move forward and keep your head up.”

RJ and Mel think it was meant to be that they reconnected back in 2018.They have become each other’s strongest supports to the point that people get concerned if they see them and they’re not together.

“We're always together and we're never apart, but I love it….” Mel smiles.

Both have lived in Yukon on and off through the years, but it wasn’t until healing from a medical trauma and trying to deal with the grief of losing a loved one that RJ found Mel again.

“I helped him with his grief” says Mel.

RJ has years of training and job experience, from second year apprentice welder to social and youth work.

Through this experience, he has come to help others who are living on the streets or struggling with addictions, and Mel has now joined him. Together, they work with local advocacy groups, participate in panels, and advocate for safe supply, emerging as leaders in their community.

Having experienced homelessness and addictions themselves, they know all too well the weight that is being carried by their community, especially when it comes to drug overdose deaths.

“It's like we don't even have time to really grieve properly…it just seems like one after another. Like we just don't even want to know after a weekend what's going on.” says RJ.

But it is their strength as a couple, as well as working with the advocacy groups that has helped them with their goals ofsobriety.

“I battle with drug addiction” Mel says, “we both do, but we’re so strong together. We’re able to stay sober.”

They have the same goals, and with time have begun to recognize their triggers so that they can actively try to navigate around them.

RJ explains, “If we fall off or fall off together, which usually is just for a night, you know, and then we're good for however long. Blood Ties (Four Directions) and whatever else is out there, they help you with that extra ride, I like to call it, of sobriety.”

Their goal is to continue to help advocate for better supports in the community, even as they themselves are experiencing homelessness. They are currently working on creating a program that will include sweats.

“Because everyone's been through treatment. At least two or three times up here. And they come back and they fall off right away. So, I'm going to make this an after-treatment program, too,” explains RJ. Mel looks at him proudly and adds “Like an aftercare.”

Portrait by GBP Creative