Youth & Addiction
Fall Conference 2025
November 7-8, 2025
This conference is for equipping Christians that have a heart for youth at risk of addiction and want to learn how to mentor, minister and parent better.
It is not a ‘youth conference.’
Conference Goals
1. To instruct Christians on how to become emotionally safe adults.
2. To challenge leaders to address difficult situations that contribute to destructive coping.
3. To equip the attendees with the tools for mentorship and to confidently care for youth struggling with addiction.
Speakers:
Lea Ward
Lea works with high-risk
youth in faith-based
and secular contexts.
Dallas Block
Executive Director
of Rock Solid Refuge
Richard Evans
Counselor with MtO Reach
A Clinical Counseling Team
TJ Mackenzie
Counselor with MtO Reach
A Clinical Counseling Team
This event takes place at Prairie College - 350 5 Ave E, Three Hills, AB
About Our Speakers
One speaker who has had very close and personal experience is Melea Ward. ‘Lea’ is a youth worker and mom of two adopted teenage daughters. She's spent the last decade working with high-risk youth in both faith-based and secular contexts and has had the privilege of running programs such as the Bail Support and Supervision Program with the Boys and Girls Club and Kelowna’s Downtown Club, a program specifically designed to meet kids who are hurting most in our city. Whether it be in a youth shelter, transition home, drop-in program or Young Life group, Lea has seen and has been broken by the depth of trauma so many teens are facing and failing to cope with. She’s walked with dozens of kids as they navigate abuse, substance misuse, and homelessness and witnessed firsthand the faithfulness of Jesus through it.
Dallas Block is the Executive Director of Rock Solid Refuge, a ministry 95 km south west of Swift Current Saskatchewan committed to Bringing God’s transforming love to adolescents with life-controlling issues, that they may know freedom, restoration, and hope. Dallas has 30 years’ experience working with teens and families including roles as Youth Worker / Pastor, Associate Pastor to youth and families, and now Executive Director. As one of the founding board members of Rock Solid Refuge in 2005, Dallas was impassioned to see a segment of Canada’s youth (addicts) and their families be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to see hope restored where it had been lost. Dallas, his wife Marla of 32 years, have raised their 4 children around the youth ministry and the ministry of Rock Solid Refuge and are no strangers to the sacrifices necessary to ministering in the most desperate situations.
Finally, we are so thankful to have back with us, two members the MtO Reach counseling team, we will start with Richard Evans. Richard is a counsellor at MTO Reach and lives in the Three Hills area with his wife and 7 kids. With a background as a Firefighter and Paramedic, he has experienced the effects of trauma and addiction first-hand which has given him a deep level of empathy for those struggling with addictive behaviours and mental health challenges. As a counsellor, his passion is for journeying alongside those that are feeling hopeless/helpless/trapped and extend hope and connection. When we can reconnect with who God created us to be, reconnect with others in a healthy way, and reconnect with our creator, life is transformed radically into one of hope and gratitude.
The second member of the MtO Reach team coming is TJ Mackenzie. TJ is a certified counsellor with the CCPA. He received his Masters degree from Providence Theological Seminary and works with both couples and individuals. He is passionate about guiding people towards hope. He has specialized training in the areas of trauma and relationships and enjoys leading workshops and speaking at conferences on the topic of emotional health and relationships.
The information below may change slightly.
Conference Schedule
Equipped 2025 Conference Schedule
Friday
7PM Welcome / Instructions
7:05 Worship in Song
7:20 Plenary Session 1 - Dallas Block - The Better Life for At Risk Youth
8:20 Testimony
Saturday
8:30AM Welcome & announcements
8:45 Worship in Song
9:00 Plenary Session 2 - Richard Evans - Becoming Emotionally Safe for At Risk Youth
10:00 Coffee Break
10:45 Workshop 1
Conference attendees spend three hours with one of our workshop trainers (either Dallas, Richard, T.J. or Melea.) More information to follow.The intention of this event is to allow participants to go deeper into their specific area of interest. Videos are made of all the sessions and are available for purchase if people wish to explore the other topics as well.
1:15 Workshop 2
2:30 Workshop 3
3:45 Plenary Session 3 - Melea Ward - Identifying and Advocating for At Risk Youth
4:45 Closing
5:30 Special Dinner - Only for those interested in the development of a Rock Solid Refuge for teen girls located in Alberta. (Note your interest when you register).
Plenary Sessions:
Plenary Session 1 - Dallas Block - The Better Life for At Risk Youth
Dallas will introduce the idea that nobody gets better from struggling with addiction without a real vision for what their better life could look like. Consequently this conference will focus on health more than on addiction. Struggling youth need to have a pathway to follow that helps them find deeper healing each step of the way. With redemptive relationships each struggling youth can stay on a path towards healing.
Plenary Session 2 - Richard Evans - Becoming Emotionally Safe for At Risk Youth
What does it mean to be emotionally safe? Why is that so important for the struggling youth to encounter adults like this on their recovery journey? How do I become an Emotionally Safe Adult before I attempt to mentor, or minister to youth struggling with addiction.
Plenary Session 3 - Melea Ward - Identifying and Advocating for At Risk Youth
Melea explores the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and the struggle with addiction that many young people face. She identifies a need for adults who come alongside children and youth to address situations that may contribute to destructive coping. We need to advocate early as parents, mentors and ministry leaders.
Workshops
Workshop Track 1 (total of 3hrs) - Dallas Block - The Heart of Youth Recovery
In this workshop Dallas discusses the change that is only possible through security. Recovery requires a season that is a type of emergency room crossed with a green house. He will discuss both the pillars of personal growth, as well as a biblical approach to working with teens in a residential setting. This recovery model is also applicable to our homes with our kids or for foster parents. A healthy home is not an island but engages in healthy societal partnership, including with the church. Don’t let the seeming mountain of possibilities stop you from making the difference you can in the lives God gives you opportunity with.
Workshop Track 2 (total of 3hrs) - Richard Evans - Sexual Addiction and Youth
In this workshop Richard equips parents and church leaders to understand the complexities of sexual addiction in youth, grounding discussions in biblical principles of grace and truth. Participants will learn to identify warning signs, foster open communication about sexuality, and implement preventative strategies within their families and ministries.
Workshop Track 3 (total of 3hrs) - TJ Mackenzie - Parenting and Prevention of Addiction in Youth
TJ’s workshop empowers parents to proactively protect their children from addiction by highlighting the, often overlooked, emotional needs that fuel it in the first place. Every addiction serves as a counterfeit for a deeper, unfulfilled need. In contrast, when our needs are truly met, addiction is not as much of a pull. Through hope-filled and practical guidance, TJ equips parents, grandparents, and youth workers with the knowledge and clarity they need to focus their energy where it matters most—helping children build resilience and connection and find true fulfillment beyond addiction.
Workshop Track 4 (total of 3hrs) - Lea Ward - A Youth Worker’s Guide to Trauma and Substance Use
Join Lea as she explores and explains some of the predisposing factors that increase a teen’s risk of misusing substances, how we can identify them and intervene, and what systems and programming might just proactively prevent use in the first place. We will increase empathy and effective mentorship by defining what trauma is, what abuse is, how their impact can affect teens’ mental health and substance use. We will actively engage in learning how we can empower youth to step out of addiction by equipping ourselves to love them well.
By increasing our understanding of how and why a kid might be hurting, we are able to partner with the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ to walk with them towards healing.
