Recovery Rocks 5K
March 16, 2019
Work, Part I
Charlotte North Carolina is so beautiful in the spring. Rich colors abound – the grass is vibrant green, the trees are flowering with pinks and whites. I have a ‘crew’ with me today for a virtual walk/run 5K that is being held in various locations across the country, coordinated by the Herren Project’s Andy and Julie Rogers. Hope Homes staff members Christina Battle and Robin Hathcock bring 2 Hope Homes residents and Christina’s toddler Aria, I bring my 18-year-old daughter Grace and her best friend Sarah. Eight of us for what is truly a family and community affair celebrating Recovery. We walk, laugh and run a bit along the Freedom Park greenway, enjoying the day. It is powerful knowing that at the same moment, many groups across the country are doing the very same thing. We are a community connected in the common cause of Hope and Recovery.
It feels familiar – a similar occurrence happens every Monday at Hope Homes and has for all 23 years of our operation. Monday night is when all our residents – 5 communities across 3 states – gather to process community and individual issues and find strength, hope and fellowship in our ‘All Recovery’ meeting. Hope Homes has evolved to serve a diverse population that includes those with substance use disorder, psychiatric mental health issues, eating disorder, and process addictions (i.e. gambling). We believe recovery is for everyone and frame everything we do around this premise.
In all my years of work and subsequent personal recovery I have come to believe that the deepest core need of every human soul is to BELONG. Addiction is such a paradox, because it gives the illusion of connection, but in truth it creates a giant chasm of separation – from self, loved ones, and ultimately God. Addiction tells you that you are alone even in a crowded room. Recovery is about connection. Community provides the road map to get there.
And that is my life’s work – creating healthy communities of support at the business I founded in 1996, Hope Homes. It is fitting that my name is ‘Beth’ – which means home. Home is the nest, the launching place for healing and recovery. It is where we are nurtured, where we rest and recharge. It is where we find others to share and do things with. We experience communion, healing and love when we share home with others – therefore no one lives by themselves at Hope Homes. Most staff live on site in their own homes that are literally steps away from residents, therein creating an immediate sense of safety, accountability and support. Our counselors’ primary job is to facilitate a safe community through their daily individual and group work. They are beacons of HOPE for our communities. Their roles are many – cheerleaders, guides, connectors, teachers, peers, and most of all compassionate, loving supporters for those we serve.
No one exemplifies these qualities on the team more than Andy Martin. Andy moved on site to work in our Atlanta community in August of 2007. The day he started was one marked by deep tragedy. One of our residents had risen early to find that his roommate Dylan, a 22-year-old young man, was asleep on the living room couch. But Dylan wasn’t asleep – he had in fact passed away from a heroin overdose. In 11 years of operation, this had never happened at Hope Homes; Dylan was our first encounter with the rising opioid epidemic. Dylan had snuck out after staff curfew checks and used heroin for the first time in 6 months. His body couldn’t process it – he went into respiratory failure and died in his sleep. It was horrific for everyone – Dylan’s family most of all, Dylan’s roommates and the large peer community at Hope Homes of 40 men.
Andy immediately began to work with the men, offering a gentle, calming presence over a long, 14 hour day. Andy is himself recovering from heroin addiction – as I write he celebrates 23 years of continuous recovery – a living miracle. That day he was a healing counterpoint to the sorrow we all felt in the face of loss, talking the men through pain and confusion – even making them laugh at just the right point, when the heavy sadness threatened to pull someone under. Andy encouraged everyone to use the tragedy for good, to let it motivate them to keep doing the things that work, to keep connecting, share openly, and hold on to each other. Andy is a professional bass player in addition to being a certified addiction counselor – he soon thereafter brought his band to the community to play music, another expression of his hope and joy. He has literally and figuratively serenaded us many times over the years, offering welcome light in what sometimes can be a very dark place.
Andy brings light, laughter and LIFE to our men’s community – never is this more evidenced than during our Monday night meetings – his ‘sweet spot’. The Monday night fellowship groups are an anchor for all our locations – but in Andy’s community we invariably see 5-10 alumni come back every week to see him and offer service and mentoring to the newer people in the group. They celebrate milestones – recovery time, job attainment, school enrollments and program completions. Andy is on top of everyone’s achievements, and he is also a safe person to confide struggles to. Many people have found the courage to try again when they have stumbled – to return to the community where they found peace and recovery – through Andy’s patient coaxing and encouragement. He is always there with a wide-open heart and helping hand. He is a consummate counselor, a friend to all and an inspiring example of recovery to everyone he encounters.
Our 5k run ends with us all feeling happy, connected and accomplished. Some swore they couldn’t do it but ended up running for the first time in a long time, surprising themselves. Side by side we encouraged each other, doing together what we could not do alone. That is the power of Community!
