From the streets to founding Second Cup

From the streets to founding Second Cup. Frank O'Dea, co-founder of Second Cup, gives a passionate speech about his road to addiction recovery at St. Joseph's Health Centre Sept. 16. Staff photo/JEFF HAYWARD

Even if that person is battling personal challenges, as O'Dea did as a young man panhandling on the streets.

Now a successful businessman, being the co-founder of Second Cup as well as charitable organizations, O'Dea reflected on his journey for an audience at St. Joseph's Health Centre on The Queensway Sept. 16.

"Thirty years ago I stood at the corner of Shuter and Jarvis streets, waiting for the other two guys to come out of the room of the flophouse we were living in and go over to Yonge Street and panhandle for 99 cents," recounted O'Dea.

That 99 cents, said O'Dea, was to buy a bottle of wine. Then came the decision to crash at the flophouse or the park bench for the night.

This was his regular routine.

"It was a dirty, lonely and sometimes violent existence," he said.

He grew up in Montreal West, and by 13, "I discovered alcohol."

"I didn't know I was going to be an alcoholic of course, but I loved the taste and the feeling of alcohol and I drank it at every opportunity."

By 18 he said he was "getting into trouble" and by 21, "my father sat me down and said ... for the good of the family, you have to go."

But, there was a silver lining. His father had arranged a job for him as a salesperson in the paint business in southwestern Ontario.

"I got close to Toronto full of hope, that I was going to be the best salesman there ever was," said O'Dea.

Things went well for a while - at least for a few months -- when he answered the call of the bottle once again.

"Before long, I lost that job," he said. "Then I lost the next one and the next one."

He found himself back in a flophouse. But a storeowner, at College Street and Spadina Avenue took an interest in the younger O'Dea, offering him some light work.

"I didn't show up every day, and sometimes I was there for an hour," he said. "If it was a nice day, I'd panhandle instead."

He said that storeowner "saved my life ... I didn't know this and neither did he at the time."

In this store, there was a radio that played only one station. One day, he heard an ad about alcoholism over the airwaves. He doesn't remember exactly what the message was, but the "tagline was, if you're having a problem with alcoholism call us, we're in the book."

Those words echoed in his head.

At first, he said they didn't mean anything. But just before Christmas 1971, he had a "moment of truth."

"For the first moment in my life, I could see I had to do something about this. It wasn't bad luck, it wasn't bad employers."

He was on the road to recovery after making the call. But there was still a long struggle ahead of him, he said.

"For the first six months I was completely unemployable," he said. "I couldn't just go get a job, my synapses just didn't work that way."

But a self-help group he didn't identify fitted him with a suit.

"I was going to take any job," he said, noting he was turned down by many. "At the top of my resume was panhandling."

Someone eventually took a chance on him. Things continued to improve. By 1974, he was selling construction equipment, he said.

O'Dea even found himself helping a political campaign where he met a fellow volunteer - who was the same age as O'Dea at the time, 29 - "I didn't know he was going to have an impact on my life."

The political campaign was a success despite the candidate being an underdog in the riding. Because of the working chemistry, his alliance with the other helper turned into something bigger - a business partnership - leading to the Second Cup empire.

But it wasn't all 'happy ever after' for O'Dea after establishing the business.

He and his business partner started seeing things differently. "We started to fight," he said.

O'Dea explained he eventually accepted a cheque and left the game.

"I needed peace," he said, noting he was feeling resentment from the situation.

However, instead of turning to the drink again, he ended up at a Jesuit retreat. He realized during his quiet time there he had achieved "self-respect, a job, a family, and friends ... and far more than I could even have thought of."

O'Dea's story of recovery and success touched those on hand.

Melissa Ducharme, who is staying at Glendale House for those recovering from substance abuse, praised the speaker following the session.

"I find it extremely overwhelming that somebody that was exactly in the place I am right now, sleeping in the park ... is as far as he is today. It gives me a lot of inspiration and a lot of hope, not only that but it makes me not think so badly about myself," she said.

O'Dea told the audience "everybody has a vision within themselves somewhere ... and you also have the talent and ability to get there.

"You need to find within yourself what you're meant to do and then go do it."

The key is having hope first, he said.

"Without hope you wouldn't be sitting in this room," he said. "Without hope none of us move forward."

St. Joseph's was hosting O'Dea as part of Addictions Recovery Awareness Month.

"Frank O'Dea is a champion in bringing addictions awareness, issues and recovery to the forefront," noted Michael Dean, manager of addiction services at the health centre. "His message is about new life, and that recovery is possible."