Brittany Baker, artist and advocate
It was not too long ago that Brittany Baker was homeless, wandering the streets of London, and facing addiction. It all started with a trauma that happened during Baker’s second year at University.
“I was violently sexually assaulted, and I went to the hospital for treatment and left with a prescription for pain medication,” she says ” I tried to manage going back to University, all while suppressing my trauma. I didn’t finish my thesis year at University, my attacker robbed me of that and things just got worse from there.”
That pain medication she received was the starting point for her 10 years of addiction. Baker found herself living on the streets of Toronto and London, and says it was a rough time for her but that it could have been a lot worse.
“There were people along the way, who helped to keep me safe, a counselor at the Centre of Pope recognized that I didn’t belong on the streets and helped me find a safe place to be and live.”
It wasn’t easy however for Baker to find the right help, and she faced a series of challenges before finding the right people and the right support
Artwork by Brittany Baker
“I had to get real, I had to get honest and I had to talk about it. I went to doctors, counselors, therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, I talked to anybody and everybody who would listen until I got better.”
“When I got to my recovery process, I was at my rock bottom and very sick. I had 2 long extensive hospital stays and spent 152 days and nights in the CCTC and ICU”
Baker soon realized she needed to make big changes to have a successful recovery. “I had to change everything, my playgrounds, my playmates, my clothes, my hair, my diet, my sleeping habits” she was able to do so with professional support.
The turning point for Baker as she calls it “The great divide” was when she was able to treat her mental health and addiction separately. The key to Baker’s sobriety was a program called suboxone at the Addiction Services RAAM (Rapid Access Addiction Medicine), which she joined in 2017.
The program was the cure for her opioid addiction. “Within 30 days, it got rid of that monkey on my back, that would tell me to use and put poison into my body, finally after 10 years it was silenced.” she recalls “It was a blessing and a miracle in my life”.
Once she was getting her life back together, after so many complications and limitations, Baker took time to appreciate the small things that she now has “It’s all about the freedom, I now open my closet and there are nice clean clothes, I open my fridge and there’s food, I go to my drawer and I pull out a clean spoon, that is not burnt on the back, my life completely changed.”
Artwork by Brittany Baker
Artwork by Brittany Baker
Baker has since been sober for 8 years and has focused more on her mental health which has greatly improved and so has her artistic life. “Psychiatrists, Physiologists, therapists, counselors, medication, and a lot of personal growth and development took place before I started getting back into art again,” she says “I found that the better my mental health improved, the better my artwork improved, the better the quality of my stuff came out.”
“I’ve always loved painting and was naturally good at it, I received no training as a painter, and it was my mom who took me to museums, galleries, and plays even during the addiction years, and that really helped me to never lose touch with the real artist that I am,” Baker recalls
Since December 1st, Baker has done over 20 paintings, and more are on the way. “I’m at my peak, I am at my best,” she says
Baker has had a solo show at Blackfriars Bistro in the fall, has been named artist of the month at the Wisdom Teashop Cafe, and recently has been asked to go back to her old high school BealART and speak as a visiting artist.
Brittany Baker has also become a sexual assault, addiction, and mental health advocate and looks forward to sharing her inspiring story, bringing awareness, and helping others who have gone through or are going through the same things that she did.
Brittany Baker of London has gone through a big trauma in her life, went homeless, became an addict, and today she has recovered and is a successful artist and advocate. Read her inspiring full story here:https://t.co/DuE8dFJKPt
— Felipe (@Felipe13436267) February 6, 2023
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