The City of Windsor declared July 3 Father Paul Charbonneau Day.
Father Charbonneau helped to establish the Brentwood Recovery Home in Windsor and dedicated 45 years to helping people recover from their addictions.
"He recognized long before it was common to think about people with addiction disorder and what their needs were and he recognized the spirituality of the disease and the importance of connecting people to people," said Executive Director Elizabeth Dulmage.
The proclamation honouring Father Charbonneau was made, posthumously, on his 100th birthday.
The impact he had on individuals and their families was recognized by the hundreds of people who gathered to hear the proclamation ceremony on Thursday.
"The idea that Father taught us is that part of how we recover, how we are successful in our journey of recovery is by giving back to one another. So what you see in there is that legacy, people coming back," said Dulmage.
The Brentwood Recovery Home currently has 68 beds in its recovery program. Dulmage indicated there is a waitlist for the program.
"It's very busy. The need far outweighs the capacity for us to respond," said Dulmage.
