February 17, 2010
The
Portland Observer Black History Month
Page 23
Streetwise Lessons
Men’s Center
helps purge
addictions
Greg Stone, who has managed
the program since its inception, ex­
plained that the men referred to the
program by Multnomah County
Department o f Community Justice
have one last chance to get clean, or
risk serving out a long jail sentence.
by J ake T homas
"They come here voluntarily, but
T he P ortland O bserver
the voluntarily part is: Come to treat­
For nearly two decades Trent ment, or else," said Stone jokingly.
Horsley woke at 5 in the afternoon, "So I call them ‘voluntarily man­
gulped down a carton o f milk and a dated.’"
pastry and turned all o f his attention
Stone said that there is no neat
towards two simple goals: using profile o f patient at the center. Some
after the counseling sessions he
could now do something as simple
as weigh the pros and cons: Sure, he
would have money, but he would
likely use some o f the drug that
would knock him off course.
For some patients, like Horsley,
staying away from familiar social
circles can be a challenge, as the
program requires you to drop con­
tact with old friends.
‘It’s truly your job to choose the
change,” he said.
But the program tries to intro-
photos by J ake
T homas /T he P ortland O bserver
Bill Moore reaches back to his own life experiences to help others
kick drug addictions at the Volunteers o f America Men's Residen­
tial Center on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Greg Stone managers the Volunteers o f America Men's Residential Center, drawing addicts back
into mainstream life.
“ Z
“
" " ' ' 1“
“It’s von - it ’q a lla h n t
1'
’’
a
aiW k t/'N o th in , would mean noth-
-
r
n ‘to -person c rim e s¡o n th eir
^ a re m n e d a d d ic tio n .
He spent time in prison and
watched his relationship with his
wife become strained as his habit
tightened its grip on his life. But
after spending time in prison and
“shucking and jiv in g ” his was
through a recovery program he
landed in a program run by the Vol-
unteers o f America that turned his
life around.
For nearly 20 years, the Volun-
teers o f America has run the M en’s
Residential Center aimed at drawing
addicts back into mainstream life.
In a two-story building off o f
Northeast Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard 52 men live under the
same roof while counselors attempt
to purge from them any desire to get
high.
The staff scurries around the
kitchen making that day’s lunch o f
sloppy Joes while patients partici-
pate in counseling sessions.
people. Alumni o f the program are
frX ° X < i n *
fOrmealS° r
J^ X r e , a form erdrUgdea1er
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be addicts until they change deeply
ingrained thought patterns,
"B asically, you're trying to
reframe their thinking skills so they
.intervene," said Stone, which often
means getting addicts to consider
the consequences o f their actions
and how it might impact others,
Horsley admits that some o f the
stuff he first heard in the program
sounded “corny,” but has helped
him out when he’s been tempted,
While attending church or going
tothestore with his wife, he’s been
approached by people involved in
the local drug economy hoping he
can hook them up. Recently some­
one wanted to do $100 worth o f
business.
Back when Horsley thought o f
nothing but his next fix, he would
have jum ped at the offer to score
some quick cash and drugs. But
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‘he
1990s, comes back almost every day
to talk to patients struggling to make
it through.
It will work if you let it work,”
said Moore, who sold drugs for
years and originally entered the pro-
gram with the intention o f merely
cutting back on his own drug use so
he could have more to sell.
Stone said patients being able to
see and interact with someone who
£ . ■ £ £ .“
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S
with plates o f food in front o f them
But next to a poster Stone calls
the “Alumni Hall o f Fame,” which
boosts former patients who are do-
ing well, is another board he deems
the “Plaque o f Death,” which fea-
tures the names o f people who died
during treatment. A few empty slots
lie ominously empty.
Only 20 percent o f the people
who enter the program end up mak-
the light at the end o f the tunnel.
w ^ h o rn m e c e n ^ y o u c a n -«
defuse tense situations However
Stone remains optünistíc.
“ ph° ,0S
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