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Project Renewal, a Brandywine Counseling program for homeless substance abusers in Sussex County, is an effort that deals with fresh starts. Sometimes those starts are slow in coming; sometimes there are false starts.
The starts are as individual as those taking part in the program, which includes two-hour group sessions each week in Georgetown. For some, the path to recovery is part of a process repeated several times. For others, the path is a last-ditch effort in a life running short on last chances.
But for program participants, renewal is not an easy path to follow. For those who are able to find renewal, there is hope to find a way back to a normal life. For those who falter, homelessness and addictions will continue to be the overriding influences in their lives.
Frank Cassidy, a counselor in the program, said people can recover from their addiction and stop the cycle of homelessness.
“I’ve seen plenty of success stories in this program,” he said. “If people have that desire and are willing to put the work in, they can learn to live on life’s terms again. It’s not an easy road and there will be lots of obstacles.”
Cassidy said people who enter the program need to learn to make proper decisions.
“They have been living this way so long, they don’t have any idea what normal is. They have to come to a realization that, at first, we have to make all decisions for them,” he said.
“And once they get back on track, they can make their own decisions.”
Sitting in the group
During a recent group session, several clients talked about their lives. The group included a pregnant 22-year-old with little hope for the future; a recovering methamphetamine addict who is on the road to recovery; a young homeless man who prefers to be a loner; and a senior citizen who has fought addiction and homelessness his entire life.
Mental illness and substance abuse are two of the key factors contributing to the rising tide of homelessness.
Many Project Renewal clients are suffering from both illnesses, said Shay Lipshitz, program manager.
Michael: Full of hope
Sitting in group during a Brandywine Counseling session as part of Project Renewal, Michael peeled back the pages of his troubled life. Because of anger, drug and alcohol problems, he was outcast by his family at 13, when he hit the streets of Phoenix, Ariz. For 17 years he was homeless.
Hopelessly addicted to crystal meth, alcohol and marijuana for more than two decades, he eventually ended up in prison for seven years.
“I would work until I got my first paycheck and then quit and buy drugs and then go get another job,” he said.
“I did a home invasion just so I had a place to live, and then I had a place to live – Arizona State Penitentiary,” he said.
When he got out of prison, he resumed his lifestyle of addiction. “I really didn’t care about myself,” he said.
He finally hit rock bottom one week when he tried to kill his entire family. “I blacked out for a whole week and didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.
At that low point, his mother bought him a plane ticket for, of all places, Delaware, because he had a friend from the state. He said for the first time since his childhood, his family took part in his life, and that was to get him away from them.
But the change in location was a change for the better – it was a life-changing move for Michael.
Although he still does not have permanent housing, he is sober for the first time in more than 20 years and is telling his story to help others who are battling demons.
“I go to AA every day now and have a sponsor who I call everyday,” he said. “I realize I have a big problem and I am getting help for it. I don’t even want to think about using.
“I have not felt this good in a long, long time.”
Matt: At the crossroads
Sitting across from Michael was Matt, who had trouble staying awake. He spent the night in a car in a gas station parking lot the night before. The cashier, whom he met that night, allowed him to stay there. She told him he could come back the next night as well.
Only 22, Matt manages to hold down two jobs although he is homeless and does not have reliable transportation.
He had an apartment in the Rehoboth area that he was sharing with some friends, and he had to give it up because they didn’t pay their share of the rent.
“All my friends are alcoholics and addicts,” he said.
Matt is also battling addiction. “I get so depressed. I don’t give a crap,” he said.
Matt said he used cocaine and crack, but has given them up and now uses marijuana and alcohol.
He was placed in rehabilitation but said he was kicked out. “They are communists there,” he said. He tried to get into a local halfway house, but had drugs in his system. “I was going to drink a capful of bleach with some water, but didn’t bother,” he said. That was to counteract the residual drugs still in his system.
“And I don’t like AA meetings because the people there are only there for their own selfish reasons – not to help me.
“For me, there is comfort with being miserable. Pain is all I really know.”
He said when he goes to shelters or transitional housing programs, he ends up getting in fights.
Karen: Needs a home
Karen, 22, is seven months pregnant, homeless, and not sure where she will be living in three weeks, when her 30-day stay at Casa San Francisco is up. She has already lost custody of two daughters who are being raised by relatives because of her mental disability, bipolar disorder.
“All I want is what is best for my baby,” she said. “And that is not to be raised in a shelter or being homeless. I’m doing everything I can, but I feel helpless.”
Like most homeless, Karen has been cast aside by family and friends. She lives on $600 a month Social Security disability payments.
“I’m trying to save money to get a place, but I can’t work, and it’s hard to get a roommate,” she said.
She said there are few programs for homeless women with babies. “A lot of shelters do not take women with kids,” she said.
Joe: Wants to work
Joe, who looks older than his 60-plus years, wants desperately to get back to work. “I can work. People have a low opinion of me because I don’t work,” he said.
Joe said there have been many nights that he slept in his pickup truck.
He wants to get his driver’s license back and start his own business. “But you don’t know which way the wind is going to blow, so I’m not projecting out too far. I want to get back in the saddle, but I want to make sure it’s tied tight first,” he said.
Joe is enrolled in a transitional housing program in Georgetown, where clients can live for two years. He is on a waiting list for more permanent housing.
He said his first step back to normalcy was getting sober, and he is proud to show off his keychain proclaiming 18 months of sobriety.
“I started my recovery in jail, but I can’t say jail saved my life because when I went in, I lost everything,” he said.
Joe said attending counseling sessions, AA meetings and group sessions has helped him, but when he gets back to work, he will focus on one thing.
“When I get back to work, I will work for the man. They want you there to work, not off to see counselors, get your license or go to noontime meetings. You have to give a lot up to work for the man,” he said.
Group dynamics
Cassidy said it’s not important how people arrive at Brandywine Counseling and Project Renewal. “We don’t care about how they get here,” he said. “We care that they are here and we build on that.”
The counselor said throughout the years of the program, group dynamics are similar with participants in different stages of recovery.
He said in this particular group, although Matt has a poor attitude and is not over his addiction, his prognosis is better than others.
“Matt has transportation, two jobs and he could live with his mother,” Cassidy said. “Others are starting over with no job, no transportation, no permanent housing. That’s what is strange about this business.”
He said attitude is still important in a person’s eventual recovery. “You need a strong attitude to make it,” he said. “If they are willing to go to any lengths to make changes, they will succeed.”
Contact Ron MacArthur at ronm@capegazette.com
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