Dawn Clouthier has struggled through abuse, addiction, HIV and now cancer, and still she manages to keep a positive attitude.
“I like to lay my head on my pillow at night and ask myself what made me smile today. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night laughing,” says the mother of two and grandmother of four.
It was “a lifetime of abuse” that eventually found Clouthier living on the streets of Victoria — and sleeping under the old Johnson Street bridge.
“I had been thrown into a foster family that was very abusive. My mother died when I was very young,” she said.
“I turned to a life of drugs to numb out.”
Her four-year experience as an intravenous-drug user left her infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
She said she eventually reached a point with her drug use when she knew she had to change.
It was either that or die.
“I tried to OD for about six months. I didn’t want to live anymore. But, at the end of about six months of not succeeding, I decided there was a greater purpose for me to live. So here I am,” she said.
She moved to Parksville to stop using drugs. She started to do volunteer work and found support there and through her doctor. She’s now been off drugs for 15 years without a relapse.
About four months ago, she was diagnosed with stage three cancer. It was a blow, she said. “I like to live positive and to think positively. … I have to be positive. If I let this get to me, it will beat me down, and that’s not going to happen any time soon.”
She’s undergoing daily chemotherapy but has to travel to Vancouver for medical care. The medications are expensive and the trips are long and tiring for Clouthier, who is on a disability pension.
But she continues to volunteer as a peer support person with Vancouver Island People with AIDS Society.
“Now I’m trying to give back to a community here in Victoria that tried to help me many years ago,” she said. Volunteering, she said, gives her lots of enjoyment.
“I get to meet lots of people and I get to support them. I feel if I can educate one person and help them not get HIV, I’ve done my job, and I’m going to keep doing my job.”
Asked what a voucher from the Times Colonist Christmas Fund means to her she said: “It would provide food. I have a lot of expenses with medications and, unfortunately, the government isn’t paying for my food costs in Vancouver.”
How to donate
The Times Colonist Christmas Fund and its predecessors have been helping less fortunate families since 1956. Every year, the generosity of our readers allows us to provide food vouchers and gifts for children.
To make a donation:
• Donate online HERE
• Call 250-995-4438, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday
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