Curtis’ Dream: driving to kindness and understanding
Curtis’ Dream society
Founded in 2023, the Curtis’ Dream Society is a registered society in British Columbia with a goal for community outreach and harm reduction at a local, provincial, and federal level.
We provide Naloxone at local events along with training and resources for families and individuals with substance dependencies.
As community members, we aspire for a diverse, kind and open dialogue around the toxic drug crisis. We aim to challenge stigmatizing language that chases individuals to consume drugs in their homes or out of sight. It is also our goal to provide people with the information to stay safer and informed while they are using substances that could be life threatening.
We believe that substance use looks different for everyone: abstinence isn’t everyone’s goal, while safety should be everyone’s right.
THE DREAM CAR
Curtis’ Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 was his pride and joy and a big part of his larger than life character. While this fast and furious car meant a lot to him, it sat for over a decade as Curtis prioritized substance use over maintenance of the vehicle. Our mother would ask him regularly to get rid of the car, to which he would always respond “I can’t, Mom…it’s my dream car.”
After Curtis passed away, it didn’t feel right to get rid of the car; we couldn’t just sell it.
Instead, we transformed it into a vehicle for change…
Curtis’ Dream car is the engine for driving kindness into the community as we drive to destigmatize substance use and spread awareness of the issues that people using drugs face daily.
While Curtis is no longer here to speak for himself, his dream car is a loud voice for action.
What started on flat wheels with a soggy engine thats been turned over, is now a turbo charged vehicle for change in what seems like a hopeless crisis.
Curtis’ Dream Car is ready for action; all wheels steering for progress.
Vroom! Vroom!
JULY 20, 1986 - DECEMBER 14, 2022
CURTIS TABLOTNEY
Curtis was always a well-dressed and social person. Working in insurance from the age of 16, Curtis perfected the art of developing lasting professional relationships.
When he was younger Curtis was an enthusiastic athlete enjoying hockey, basketball, fastball, soccer and rugby.
Curtis had a special gift of being able to strike up a conversation with anyone. He had what seemed like an unreal confidence when it comes to being around people. Something later on in life that would be shattered.
When you’re being social and working on commission one of the best ways to keep working is to use stimulants and it also helps for staying social. Cocaine was his drug of choice.
Curtis was a stimulant user for well over a decade before his passing in 2022. On Dec 13th, he left work saying he wasn’t feeling well. He would later that evening pass away from an overdose while playing play station alone in his bedroom. It was a fatal dose of methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine that was in his system at the time of death.
This project is not a tribute to Curtis’ name: it is an outreach organization founded by his family that wants to continue in Curtis’ style of kind, approachable conversation. We would like to live in a world where people are willing to stop in the rain to get out of their sports car to help someone in need. Something Curtis did one afternoon while driving with a friend when a woman was struggling with groceries in the rain.
Fixing the car was Curtis’ Dream, offering families and people who use substances better supports is ours. While we as a family offered Curtis as much support as we possibly could, we found it exhausting to find resources to help with his stimulant dependencies. Just like Curtis, many others are dying from the toxic supply of drugs circulating in our communities across the continent. We just want to do our part so that others can find the supports we struggled to find.