Our History

Father Paul Charbonneau moves a bit slowly these days. But at age 86, you can still see the firebrand in the man who was willing to use words and a well-placed fist if necessary to get the job done. The founder of Brentwood was himself affected by alcoholism - as a young boy; he grew up with a father who suffered from the disease. "My dad was a good man who started work when he was about 14 or 15. In those days, you lived hard lives. People drank."

Fr. Paul Charbonneau worked for his father in the summer, where his dad drank on the job. He had his own electrician business. "It wasn't nice to be around him," recalls the priest. "I took it personally, even though I shouldn't have. I became angry."

He attended church every day and decided he wanted to become a priest, or a monk or a missionary. "People didn't expect that of me," he says, chuckling. "I was known as a bit mixed up. I battled between my anger and my desire to be closer to God. I guess I wanted an escape." After Fr. Paul Charbonneau joined the priesthood, he began to teach religion in parish schools. He soon noticed the signs of the same disease that had plagued his father causing suffering in the children he taught. "You could see it in their eyes. You could see fear, sadness and a void."

The priest went to visit these children in their homes, where, invariably, their mothers answered the door with that same haunted look in their eyes. "They were afraid of what their husbands would say. 'He's liable to hurt you', they'd warn me. But I wasn't afraid." Fr. Charbonneau began to meet members of Alcoholics Anonymous in London and Chatham. He would bring them to visit the families of those alcoholics he hoped to help.

A stint in military after the War reinforced his desire to help. He worked with the servicemen and their commanders, who frequently spent their downtime at the canteen drinking. "One sergeant who ran a canteen told me I was costing him business," Charbonneau says, laughing.

After serving 6 years as a Chaplain, he returned to parish work in the Windsor and Essex County area and continued to help those afflicted by alcoholism. Jim and Kay Ryan moved to Emeryville where they met Fr. Paul who was still Pastor of St. William's Parish. They got to know him and when he spoke of starting Charity House, they wanted to be part of this work. In 1964, a group of Fr. Paul, seven men, and $35.00 between them started Charity House in Windsor. "Charity meant 'love'," he explains. "We wanted to help the guys who were living on the street who needed love."

In order to do so, we rented a vacant restaurant at the corner of Wyandotte Street East and Chilver. "The people we were trying to help were suspicious," he recalls. "They thought we were do-gooders who want to throw a net over them." Instead, he explained the purpose and invited the homeless to leave their street corners, alleys and niches under the Peabody Bridge to stay warm and safe for the night. Local restaurants provided food and the AA alumni whom Fr. Paul knew chatted with the men about their problems. "At first we gave them just supper. Then, it became breakfast. We decided we needed a bigger place and bought a building behind the Peerless Ice Cream Parlour in Old Walkerville. Reaction from the neighbourhood was negative. "We had to go door-to-door and explain what we hoped to do. We won them over."

Fr. Charbonneau was joined by Jim and Kay Ryan. "They showed up to help with the renovation and stayed to help me run the place." The Ryan's eventually sold their home in Emeryville and took up residence in the upstairs of Charity House and along with Fr. Paul, were the co-founders of Brentwood. Jim Ryan was the first maintenance man of Brentwood and Kay Ryan was like their "Den Mother." Her time in the army as a Corporal helped prepare her for working with the alcoholic as she was the only women amongst them. Able to sleep 50 and feed 100 to 150 people a day, the facility demanded much of Fr. Charbonneau's time - and he still had the responsibilities of his parish to take care of. "The Ryan's really ran it because I was so busy. We named two of Brentwood's buildings after them: The Jim Ryan Pavilion, and the Kay Ryan Women's Centre, in honour of all they did for us."

In 1964, a government task force determined that places like Windsor - where there was a high incidence of drinking-related crimes - should have a recovery home. "Father Ken Jaggs asked if I would run a recovery home and I agreed. I had no money but I've done a lot of things on faith and I figured that if God wants something to happen, he won't let anything interfere." His offer to buy the building with a $5,000 deposit was laughed at; it has a $150,000 asking price. But funds to buy the Sandwich Street home that would become Brentwood came from the perfectly timed intervention of a friend in Ottawa who knew of a group that allocated funds to just such community organizations. "It was just meant to be," says Fr. Paul.

After a lot of hard work, Sept.1, 1974, St. Joseph House of Studies, 3020 Sandwich Street was bought and renamed Brentwood, a recovery home for male alcoholics only, with a 20-30 bed capacity. The name Brentwood was decided upon by Fr. Paul from the many names that they had considered. The name Charity House would not attract alcoholics where the homeless had been fed and cared for so the name was changed to Brentwood and still stands today.

In 1975, a Women's Support meeting started. This disease of alcoholism had affected the women in these men's lives also and they needed just as much help as the alcoholic.

As the program grew, Fr. Paul leased St. Hubert's School for $1.00 a year in South Windsor in the daytime to hold meetings and returned to Brentwood at night for the next two years. In 1983 a bus was donated by River Canard K of C to transport residence from the Sandwich home to St. Huberts.

In 1977 the Youth Group started for children ages 9 to 18. Alcoholism is a family disease and it needed to be made available to the children of the alcoholic also.

Over time, the priest developed more than 100 talks that he would give at Brentwood meetings. His brother, Fr. Bob Charbonneau, also a priest, began to document them. It was the beginning of the program's core communications. Brentwood drew greater respect and really took off in the 1980s. Once again, demand placed too much pressure on the facility and another move was needed.

In October 1983 the old Elmwood Casino, located at 2335 Dougall Avenue, became available for sale. It had been closed for years and was in great disrepair. The windows were smashed and all the electrical stripped. Entire walls were missing. It was a mess," recalls Fr. Paul Charbonneau.

Its owner gave Brentwood the deed with the provision it did not have to be paid for two years, which enabled the Board of Directors to secure $1.5 million to conduct the repairs which took one year. It could accommodate 150 to 175 people at any one time and began to draw people from across Canada.

From November 1983 to July 17, 1984, many people worked, unpaid, remodeling before the opening of Brentwood, 2335 Dougall Avenue, Windsor, ON, which is still our home today. It was truly a labour of love.

When Brentwood opened, it drew so many people. We had the 90-day program. Chrysler, Ford and GM would send us employees who needed help. We also got people from word-of-mouth. We received a lot of good publicity.

In 1983 a Youth group started for children ages 7 to 15. In 1984, Father Paul was approached by the County School Boards for Brentwood people to go into the schools and talk to students in grades 7 and 8 about their experiences with alcohol and drugs. It was very successful and is still in place today.

February 26, 1985, the first woman entered Brentwood and after consultation with Fr. Paul she was allowed to attend meetings accompanied by Kay Ryan. In the beginning the empty home on Sandwich Street was used for the women residence, starting with 20 beds. After a year, a decision was made to move the women to Dougall Avenue and placed them in the front rooms. Kay Ryan worked with the women for the first three years. Today the program women are located in the Kay Ryan Residence for Women, located at the front of the property. After 23 years Kay Ryan retired in April 1988 and the women's program was put in to capable hands.

The first Retreat in 1968 was held in Port Burwell, ON with 6 people in attendance. In 2005, a Retreat was held at Brentwood in Windsor, ON with over 350 people in attendance.

Fr. Paul Charbonneau was finally given permission to work there full-time, and he has devoted himself fully ever since. "I'm getting ready for retirement now. It hasn't always been smooth; but I never let opposition stop me. I never shied away from a physical or verbal confrontation. I had a reputation that stood me in good stead."

In 2005 Father Paul Charbonneau retired and passed on the position of Executive Director to Don Russell, MSW, RSW, CACII.

Source:

June 2008 - Interview with Fr. Paul Charbonneau

1964 - 1988 - 25th Anniversary Book by Kay Ryan and the Brentwood Yearbook Committee