ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Peter Jackson
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
@pjackson_nl
He may root for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Mike Ince’s favourite team is one few people have heard of.
A FACT team is a “flexible assertive community treatment" group comprised of several disciplines that can offer individuals hands-on assistance with daily living activities, and provide continuous long-term support.
At least, that’s how the government puts it.
To Ince, their purpose is more down to earth.
“If it wasn’t for the FACT program and my addictions counsellor from Eastern Health, I probably wouldn’t be around right now,” he said in a phone interview Friday.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time, with the COVID and everything.”
The Department of Health and Community Services officially rolled out the FACT program Thursday, but the deployment of community support teams has been in place for about 10 years. Thursday’s announcement simply means the concept is being expanded to include more areas of support to more people.
It’s part of an all-party initiative launched in 2017 called Towards Recovery: A Vision for a Renewed Mental Health and Addictions System for Newfoundland and Labrador. The province unveiled another spoke in the wheel Tuesday by announcing the contract has been awarded to build a new mental-health facility on Prince Philip Drive in St. John’s to replace the ancient Waterford Hospital.
Tough life
Ince has been through the wringer more than once. He was put in foster care in Toronto at the age of six. His sister committed suicide, his brother died of an overdose and his father was murdered. He hasn’t seen his mother in 28 years and assumes she’s also passed on.
“From the age of 20 to the age of 40, I’ve been in pretty well every penitentiary in Ontario, and every penitentiary in British Columbia,” he said.
“At the age of 45, I was homeless in Alberta and I said, you know what, I got to get out of here or I’m going to die.”
Some friends got him a bus ticket and he rode from Edmonton to North Sydney, N.S., where he caught the ferry Newfoundland. Now 60, he has been in the province for 16 years.
In June, Ince finished a stint at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s. He says he broke a peace bond by showing up at a bar he was banned from. He poured beer over the owner’s Corvette.
But he has a way with words, and has used his communication skills to advocate for others like him, especially other inmates who are going through the same thing, but may not have a voice.
“Who writes to The Telegram about being in jail during a pandemic? Nobody,” he said, referring to letter to the editor published June 16 titled “Time inside HMP during a pandemic.”
“I believe more could be done at HMP to help an inmate better adapt and reintegrate into society. I was taught nothing while I was at HMP and I’ve never learned anything at HMP,” he wrote. “Will someone stop the revolving door over there?”
Silver lining
But Ince has nothing but praise for the care he receives outside prison walls.
“I’ve never seen facilities anywhere else — from the Gathering Place to the FACT program to Eastern Health — I’ve never seen anything like it until I came to this province,” he said. “This is the best province (for) helping people in the country, in my opinion.”
On Thursday, the executive director of CHANNAL said she even sees a silver lining in the pandemic, as tough as it’s been for people with mental-health issues. She said it’s helped more people understand what mental stress and anxiety are all about.
“We’ve made it personal,” Paula Corcoran said. “Very few of us have not been negatively impacted by this world pandemic.”
As for Ince, he can regale you for hours with personal anecdotes and hockey jokes if you let him.
“I’ve got more stories than a library, and more issues than Playboy,” he said.
“I’ve had a rough life. But yet, I’m still standing. There must be a reason for that.”
Peter Jackson is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering health for The Telegram
