Alvin Mills presenting to SACPA on Dec. 9, 2021. (Photo: Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs - YouTube)

By Justin Goulet

Residential school survivor talks compassion and kindness towards people battling addictions

Dec 12, 2021 | 6:05 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Alvin Mills has been through some rough patches in his life, but has managed to come out the other end standing tall.

The residential school survivor was the special guest for the December 9 meeting of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA). He discussed his personal journey of addiction and recovery, and the importance of understanding and being compassionate when it comes to those battling their own demons.

In his younger years, Mills was a talented boxer and played multiple sports. However, his experiences in residential schools made a harsh impact on him. He spent nine years at St. Paul’s Anglican School and four at St. Mary’s School on the Blood Reserve.

His full presentation to SACPA can be viewed below.

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Mills spoke of abuses he suffered at the hands of staff, but also others during his school years.

He said, “what’s not often brought up is the abuses from the older students.”

“With the older students, the violence was always present.”

Mills said he fought back and started taking boxing lessons while in school. He remarked that boxing “took away the drudgery of being in residential school.”

“Boxing was a great escape for me.”

He did note some of “the good times” he had while in residential school, saying he developed as a strong basketball player and was able to “travel the world” playing the sport.

Mills eventually received a basketball scholarship to go to school in Medicine Hat. While on his own in the city, he said he discovered alcohol and eventually, ended up in jail.

“I started living that street life of alcohol, and then I got into the drugs, the violence, hand-in-hand with the street life. The majority of my adult life I was in and out of jail.”

In May of 1999, he was charged with attempted murder and received a four-year sentence. When he was released, he continued to struggle with his addiction issues, and was stabbed in the throat. That incident inspired him to seek treatment for his issues.

Mills said, “as I was going through my recovery, I learned to work on my trauma and that’s when I was able to deal with stuff that happened.”

“I can’t say that I’m fully recovered, or I’m fully healed but now at least I won’t go to the bottle.”

He added that, “it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to talk about stuff.”

Although he continues to heal, Mills said he’s found a new purpose by helping others.

He is behind the Kii Mah Pii Pii Tsin (Kindness to Others) Renewal and Healing Centre.

The mandate of the centre is to support and advocate for the at-risk and vulnerable members of the community and promote kindness to others, no matter what their life situation may be. Mills has a one-year program to help people recover and is hoping to one day set up a physical facility to offer support to anyone who needs it.

He is planning a Christmas gift campaign this year as well, for people at-risk and on the streets.

Mills explained, “it will be at a hall and they’re going to have a Christmas dinner and I will ensure that every one of them has a Christmas card and a Christmas present, so just for this one Christmas, I’m going to make it special for them.”

“They live a hard life out there. In society today, they should be afforded the dignity, the compassion as everyone else gets.”

Mills also hopes to one day open a boxing club to help out younger generations, much like the sport helped him in his youth.