In the background, Ali Embree's seven-month-old son was babbling and cooing.
"Sorry, he's just learning how to scream," she laughed. "He's so loud."
The sound wasn't disruptive, however. It was the sound of a baby who loved his mom, his world and his life.
Just over a year ago when Embree found out she was pregnant, that kind of life wasn't a guarantee. Embree is now sober, having worked hard to fight dependency on drugs like crack, fentanyl and Percocet.
One year ago, she was living on the streets, bouncing between communities and with no goal in life. Now in her mid-30s, she's a new mom, runs a Tiktok account about motherhood and her journey with addiction, and speaks in a fun, excitable tone of voice. She seems happy. She also speaks candidly about her experience using drugs and with addiction.
Embree first started using drugs when she was a teenager. She and her friends would use things like Percocet and other pills, just having fun in a small town. It wasn't until she took a break from the drugs that she noticed that she'd started to form a habit.
"I was addicted and on the streets since I was around 19 or 20," she said. "I'm 34 now. I was on the streets around East Hastings for like six years. I've been on and off Suboxone, methadone and none of that really works. I ended up getting pregnant last April (2024) and then I got clean in Amethyst House."
"I thought it was just like a fun thing to do," she said. "I kept doing them and then one day I didn't have any and I didn't even know that you get withdrawals and you get dope sick from them. I went to the doctor and they were like 'yeah that's dope sick. You can't be eating all those pills every day and not feel the effects' and it never really ended after that."
"I started doing Fentanyl, and I used to smoke a lot of crack. That was what my last addiction was," she said. "Crack was a huge mental addiction for me. I didn't think I could live without it."
However, she said that once she became pregnant, it clicked for her and she made a change for the better.
"When I got pregnant and went to treatment, it still took a bit. I relapsed in treatment. I wanted to stay clean, but I just loved it too much," she said. "It took until I actually had him to actually have the withdrawals gone away and get back on the shot ... it took a lot of effort, I just wanted to use so bad."
"I got back on the shot after I had my son. I've been sober for just over a year now and I'm still on the shot."
That shot is Sublocade, a monthly injection that helps manage withdrawal symptoms and cravings. As a partial opioid agonist, the drug attaches to the opioid receptors in the brain without fully activating them and causing euphoria. The active ingredient buprenorphine is steadily released over a month, letting the patient live a relatively normal life, with counselling and other supports. For Embree, it made all the difference.
"The problem before is that I was always losing my pills and shit, being high all the time, I could never keep track of my prescriptions. I would always lose them and end up using again. But the Sublocade works because I only have to go in once a month and it's good for the whole month."
Embree's son is now seven and a half months old. Since he was born, she's started to put the pieces of her life back together.
"I'd lost my licence and had a bunch of debt owing. I didn't think I could ever be able to drive again, because I'd gotten mad once and drove my car into somebody on purpose," she said. "I lost my licence, and it was like 100 grand for that (crash). I finally got my licence back, though."
Those accomplishments are quickly piling up, too. Embree said she is paying her debts, building her credit and has her own place to live.
"I was homeless for a long time, living in an RV and on the streets in Courtenay," she said. "I finally have my own place, I do my own thing. It's so much better because I'm actually doing things instead of letting life pass me by.
As someone who has gone through therapy and recovery in B.C., Embree says the main thing lacking in the provincial system is accessible recovery beds.
"I find getting into detox and treatment the hardest part," she said. "There's the wait list and jumping through all of the hoops they want you to jump through, that's probably the biggest struggle for people who are addicted these days.
"There's also not many treatment options on the Island, either," she added. "Nowadays, you don't even know, like you can't even trust crack cocaine anymore. Like my uncle passed away in October last year and he was just smoking crack," she said. "He didn't do fentanyl or anything and it was in the dope and they didn't know how to Narcan them and he ended up dying. And like he would never touch fentanyl and it was just because of how mixed the drugs are these days.
"It's just they're so severe to come off of now. You just can't come off them by yourself. You have to go to detox these days because you just die if you (try to come off the drugs alone). Like, even not just with the drugs, you die without them now because of the tranquillizers and them and stuff. I've tried to do it so many times and I'm like, 'Oh, I can just wait a little bit.' And then I'll automatically start having seizures right away and it's just like and I don't even mean to get back into it. It's just because, like, I'm sick."
The main thing that kept her going through her addiction and subsequent recovery process, however, was that her family never gave up on her.
"One thing I found is that my family never gave up on me. So they were always there. They pushed me, which didn't work, like you can't push (an addict) into treatment, but as long as you show them that you love them ... I came home from Vancouver and I'd have dinner with my mom on my birthday. And like just showing your support and love is better than just cutting them off, because cutting them off will be the last time you see them.
But at the end of the day, it's her son who keeps her going.
"I still see addicts now who are my friends and stuff," she said. "If I wasn't in the right mindset, I'd totally go back to it, but ... I look at my kid and wonder what he would do if I did go back. I just try to keep that in my head.
"The love is so crazy," she said.
Behind her, Embree's son was getting more and more excited. She was distracted, but kept returning to the conversation.
"Sorry," she said, but there was no apology needed.
Mental health, substance use, and grief services and supports are available. Residents may call Service Link at 1-888-885-8824 to learn about supports that best meet their needs. If someone is experiencing a crisis, they can contact the Vancouver Island Crisis Line, available 24/7, at 1-888-494-3888. To access mental health and substance use services, visit or For harm reduction information and resources, like where to get Naloxone, visit
