“If there is anything good left inside of me, God could have it, because my life was over.”

The founder of Love Soluble is Spencer Kell. He is a survivor of Ontario’s provincial correctional system and of substance use disorder. Spencer’s addiction began to manifest itself in his life around the age of 16, as his disease progressed so did his anti-social behavior. Spencer was first incarcerated in 2002 at age 23 as a result of his problematic substance use and the criminal behaviors in which were manifest. Spencer continued to struggle with his addiction for the next decade while he would also continue in the cycle of recidivism; in all, Spencer served over two years behind bars with somewhere around 20 different visits to a variety of provincial correctional institutions, six treatment centers in a period which lasted over 20 years in total. The overwhelming impact this had on his life, his family, his career, his potential and his community as a whole, was enough to inspire him to found Love Soluble in order to address the ongoing problems with addiction treatment amongst this otherwise overlooked portion of Canada’s vulnerable sector.

In 2013, while incarcerated for crimes related to his substance abuse, Spencer attended his first drug treatment program. His parents had funded his stay at a very expensive, private treatment facility. Upon confirmation of his ability to commence treatment, Spencer was allowed to be released on bail in order to attend. Spencer stayed clean for an additional eight months after the completion of this 45-day program by continuing his residential stay as a peer mentor in the program he had attended, but because he lacked the life skills required for independent living, he soon suffered a relapse after leaving the program. Soon after, he again became incarcerated for criminal behavior associated with his addicted lifestyle.

In 2017, while on 2 previous bail conditions, Spencer was arrested on new charges and incarcerated once again, this time, being held without bail. During this period of incarceration Spencer spent time developing a strategy to get clean from drugs, to change his life and to finally stay clean for once and for all. He applied to a rehab program in Ottawa, ON and was accepted, pending a firm date for his release, however no release could be guaranteed until a firm date for admittance to the program could be provided. Spencer then took matters into his own hands, he lied to the treatment provider, telling them he had a firm date of release in a little over a months’ time, which was to be the date of his next court appearance. This satisfied the treatment center and they were then able to issue a letter confirming the date of his admittance into their program. Spencer then provided this letter to his lawyer to present to the court, upon receipt of the letter, the court agreed to overturn his detention order and to grant Spencer a 3rd bail condition in order for him to attend the treatment program. He was subsequently released at his next appearance in court. This process was instrumental in highlighting areas that require improvement in order to ‘bridge the gap’ between pre sentenced inmates and viable addictions treatment programs.

During his treatment, Spencer applied for and was accepted into a diploma program in addictions at a local accredited College. Spencer applied for a transfer from his treatment program into another program that could support College attendance and interaction with the community so that he could also pursue gainful employment. Upon transfer to a second program located in a nearby homeless shelter, Spencer began his new treatment programs in the morning, attended career College in the afternoon and found full time employment in the evenings. By the time the treatment program came to an end, Spencer was able to save up enough money to rent his own apartment. After only two months from being released from jail, Spencer had completed 2 treatment programs, was attending a 12 Step fellowship on a regular basis, had found independent living, was working full time while also attending College full time.

When Spencer eventually returned to the several courts he had outstanding charges in, he pled guilty to the crimes he had committed. Having in hand all the evidence that he had turned his life around, 3 separate judges and courts commended Spencer on the tremendous work he had done and all agreed on suspended sentences to be served in the community and with accompanying terms of probation. Five years later, Spencer continues to live his life of recovery and maintains his sobriety. He established Love Soluble as a federally incorporated not for profit in 2018 and continues to work towards his goal of helping others who find themselves in similar cycles of addiction and incarceration. Spencer has since developed a brand-new model for treatment to be used specifically for this marginalized sector of people.

Spencer completed, with high honors, his diploma in addictions and holds an associate addictions counselling certification with the CACCF. He has been able to settle all outstanding debt incurred from a life of addiction, he has purchased a home, and gotten engaged. He is involved with his local Salvation Army church and was enrolled as a senior soldier in 2022. Spencer continues to be active in the 12 Step fellowship where he holds service positions on the Hospitals and Institutions Committee, mainly he oversees the commitments at the Hull Detention Facility where he attends weekly meetings with inmates who are stuck in the same cycle he was in. He has found success in working in the field of addictions and currently holds two jobs in order to fund the startup endeavors of Love Soluble. In short, he has broken the cycle of addiction, recidivism and homelessness and now enjoys the life of an acceptable, contributing member to society.