Growth & Grace

Announcer 0:00
This is a KU n b Studio's original program.

Wesley Knight 0:05
The following program is underwritten by Crawford management group and Chris glow, and does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jaz and Moore the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Music 0:18
Even better than that was the last time, baby

Music 0:35
we back and we back and we back and we back and we back. Angry.

Julian Rosado 0:44
How are you guys doing today? Feeling pretty good. Feeling pretty good. Today is Saturday and how you doing? Leo, hey,

Leaha Crawford 0:51
you

Leaha Crawford 0:54
guess what Juneteenth festivals are today, Saturday morning, I think at the World Market Center, okay, the Juneteenth festivals are going on this evening, at four

Julian Rosado 1:06
o'clock. All right, happy Juneteenth. Oh yes, yes, yeah. All right. So you are you excited about our guests we have in the studio today? Yes, yes, I am. You are how excited? I'm very excited, very excited, very, very, very excited. Okay,

Leaha Crawford 1:19
so today, I thought it was important to bring back. I volunteer for the Salvation Army, and I've been working with their PR with the PR rep at Salvation Army. Hi, Michelle, just to talk about one of the programs here in the city, and I don't think a lot of people know about it, and more importantly, this program is free, and it has impacted a number of lives here in the Valley. So today, I have the honor of bringing on major Boyd. Hi major boy, hello there. How you doing today? Doing great. All right, so he is over the Salvation Army's adult rehabilitation center. That's correct. All right, so major Boyd, how

Major Boyd 2:04
are you? I'm doing great, except for it's 109 degrees, 100

Leaha Crawford 2:08
and all at every in this every degree we feel, every degree, every degree, all 109 so talk to me about the A R C, better known as arc.

Major Boyd 2:17
That's right. I'd love to tell you about the A R C. The Salvation Army has been helping men and women who have drug and alcohol problems going back into the 1880s long before the AMA thought alcoholism was a disease, long before the American Psychological Society wanted to deal with it, the Salvation Army was already doing it and calling it a disease, and we've been helping people ever since nice we help with what's called a social model program. It's not a medical model, it's a social model, trying to help people get better through a replicable lifestyle, doing things that are going to help them not just get better, but be able to repeat when they leave our program and stay better and move forward in their lives.

Leaha Crawford 3:02
I love it. And today, you actually have some current participants in the program here with you. I do you do so Hey, Destiny. Hey, Hi, James. Hey, hey, how are

Destiny 3:16
you? I'm doing good.

Leaha Crawford 3:18
Well, first of all, thank you for agreeing to come on the program and to tell your story. So James, how long have you been in the

James 3:28
program? First off, thank you for having us. You're welcome. And I am currently 75 days into the program.

Leaha Crawford 3:34
Congratulations. Thank you. What brought you to the program? How did you find out about the program?

James 3:41
I found out about the program through a best friend. Unfortunately, at the time, I had no insurance, I was not working, and I needed a free program, and fortunately, Salvation Army was there for me. Relapse is part of my story into which I was in the center before I know it works. I come to the Salvation Army a broken man. I had no hope in my life. I was seeing no future whatsoever. I was feeling very ashamed of myself because of the Salvation Army and the things that are structured in the into the program. Again, hope is again. In my life, I feel very confident in myself, which just gets better every every day, a little bit every day just gets a little bit better. The self esteem is coming back. The ability to communicate with others is coming back. The want to communicate with others is coming back. It's amazing, amazing transformation.

Leaha Crawford 4:52
How did you when did you know it was time for you to go back to 75 days ago? Well, let's say 80 days ago. How did you know that it was time. On for you to go back that is a short time too. Yeah,

James 5:05
I come to the realization that inside was a better man. I know the James when I'm not drinking. I know the accomplishments that I can succeed at. I have goals in my life that when drinking, when I come to that point, 75 days ago, no aspiration whatsoever. I was a very, very selfish man living day to day. And that's it, that in itself, is hard, the daily struggle of feeding an addiction of alcohol. Not only is it very, very selfish, but you, it's, it's a never ending, nowhere, no ambition, no hope. The ability that I had to feel good about myself was not there at all. I I felt so low about myself because what I had let myself come to.

Leaha Crawford 5:58
All right, Destiny. Yes.

Destiny 6:00
Hi, good morning.

Destiny 6:02
Good morning. Thank you for having us here. You are so very welcome, such an honor.

Leaha Crawford 6:07
Okay, so let's talk what brought you to the army.

Destiny 6:13
So what brought me to the army? I been using drugs and alcohol since I was about 14 years old, and as a result of my drug addiction, I went to prison a couple times. And I don't know if you ever heard of the word institutionalized. I'm familiar with the term. Okay, so being institutionalized, I got out of prison the third time I went to another program which is not structured. You just had to be home by nine o'clock. And I just realized that I was so institutionalized that I didn't do anything, I didn't go anywhere. I would just stay in the room, watch TV, eat food, and I thought I was like living my best life, and because I was so conformed to being institutionalized that that's like what I knew with that being said, when I was sitting in the county jail, Salvation Army came into the jail to speak to us about the program, and when she planted the seed, I always had it in the back of my mind I was going to go to the Salvation Army. All

Leaha Crawford 7:35
right, so when she planted the seed, how did you get there? Because you told me the story, but I want everybody else to hear the story. How you ended up at the A, R, C,

Destiny 7:45
yeah. Okay, so I she Canaan was actually a caseworker for the vocational side of Salvation Army, and I was supposed to go meet with sharira at vocational and I showed up at the wrong the wrong one. I showed up at the wrong Salvation Army and ended up at the A, R, C, okay. And so I did the intake process, and I wasn't I was like, where is sharira at? Where is this intake lady? You know? And I just went through the process and and I still didn't know until after a while that it was the wrong one,

Julian Rosado 8:24
right. Even stronger will than me, I would have gave up right there.

Leaha Crawford 8:29
Well, no, because the little thing about it is you were actually in the right place, right? You were right where you were supposed to be, yes. So what did you find? What have you found? Because this is your first time in the program, yes. So what do you have? You learned anything new?

Destiny 8:44
So I learned so i Okay. So what I've learned is this is a life or death situation for us, and in order to be sober, we have to put God first in our life, and so I am learning to rely on his on his power, on his grace, to help me with my daily struggles that I have today. Okay,

Leaha Crawford 9:19
now, were you a church goer before? Were you a believer before or

Destiny 9:22
so? I I mean, we went to church, like for for Easter, for Christmas, but did I go to church on a regular basis? I did not. And that's what's wonderful about the salvation army as well, is like you're building the foundation of your spiritual understanding, of your spiritual life, you know, because that is a big aspect of being sober, to rely on that power, to rely on that power higher than yourself, you know, and to believe in something. And I mean, there's been multiple times where. Where, where I know it was a god shot in my life, you know, and I knew that he was there, and I knew it was because of him that I was I'm still alive today, and I'm just so grateful for the program, because it touches on different aspects of your life. There's the spiritual side, okay, then we have the work therapy, you know, I've been out of work for multiple years, and to have the opportunity to go to work every day, to be able to work with others, to be in a work environment, is giving me skills that I can use for the rest of my life.

Leaha Crawford 10:39
Yes, okay, all right, so let's talk about the work therapy. What is work therapy?

Major Boyd 10:45
Work therapy, our program is based on work therapy. We're a social model program, and part of that is so that you can have that model that you can repeat when you leave to survive in the outside world, you have to have a job

Major Boyd 10:59
really, able to show up. Really, you have to have, you know, show up. They got it. They

Leaha Crawford 11:05
gotta go to work.

Major Boyd 11:07
Believe it or not, people need a paycheck and so pay their rent. They can't do that unless they can hold down a job. So we get our beneficiaries, that's what we call them when they're in our program, these gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, that we're helping to mold into a new version of themselves. We give them some tasks to do. They have a 40 hour a week assignment. They are they have instructions, they have supervisors, and they learn how to get along in a work environment so that when they leave, they're ready with six months of sobriety and good work habits are ready to hold a real job with a real paycheck, and most of our people don't have a hard time getting a job at all, and they get promoted quickly because they've been sober for a while and they've got some motivation in their lives. So that's a big part of the program. It's not the only part of the program, but it is a definitely a big part of the program, with 40 hours a week and dedicated to

Leaha Crawford 12:01
that. I love that you said 40 hours a week, because it's not necessarily nine to five, that's right. And I love that because we are in a town where you might have to work from 11 to seven, you know, 12 to eight. It's not necessarily you go in at nine o'clock, get off at five o'clock. So I love the fact that it's a 40 hour week, yes, and then, but do you teach them what to do outside of that? So what other therapy is there outside of that 40 hours? Because that's the work therapy, right? And it's the spiritual side,

Julian Rosado 12:33
very idle hands. Then you got, whoa,

Leaha Crawford 12:35
then you got the rest of the time. That's that's when you get in trouble.

Major Boyd 12:38
And we know that idle hands of the devil's playground, and the people have too much time on their hands tend not to do a lot of just really good, altruistic things on their own. So we help shape those things a bit. So our people get up. Most of them get up about 530 in the morning, breakfast at six, and then by 730 they are at their work therapy assignment, they get off 330 in the afternoon dinners at four, little early for dinner for most people, but classes start at five and at six and at seven. So besides work therapy, they have they have individual and group counseling. It's where they learn about what brought them to the point of using or drinking, what brought them to the behaviors that brought them to us. And they learn about those things. And they learn about, for some of them, parenting skills. They learn about anger management. And that is a really

Leaha Crawford 13:40
Alright, so let's, let's talk about that, because anger is one of those emotions that a lot of people struggle with, dealing with, that's right. And it's not the anger that gets you in trouble. It's what you do when you're angry,

Major Boyd 13:55
that's right. And when you do get anger, and the Bible even says get angry, but sin not, right? So you can be angry. You can get angry about something, but it's what you do with that anger and what you don't do with that anger that helps you to move forward. When you blurt out some anger at your boss and say some things you wish you hadn't said later on, and you lose that job, then you're back where you started. So we want to work on anger management. We want to we teach them about different rehabilitation issues, such as various chemical dependencies, how they affect the body, how they affect the mind. And anyway, a lot of classes, in addition to regular classes, they have a once a week Bible study. And since I've said Bible study, and she's mentioned spirituality. We are a faith based program, and you don't pass a spiritual test to get in anybody of any faith background, whether they're atheistic or agnostic. A couple of weeks ago, a man came in said, I'm a devout Satan worshiper, and my goal is to. Is to defeat the forces of God. And I said, okay, but at least he's persistent. Yeah, he knew what he believed in, but we take people of all faith backgrounds, whether Protestant or Catholic, whether they're from the Mormon Church, the Jehovah's Witness, whether they're Muslim or Hindu or Native American religions, anybody from any faith background could come into the program. They at least will be hearing a bit of the Bible and the gospel message while they're in our program. Got it so they

Julian Rosado 15:31
think a lot of that? Well, they do not know that. Yeah, you're

Major Boyd 15:35
probably right. Yeah, and, and we take, like I said, atheists and agnostics, and I would say atheism might be the most frequently cited religion. When people come in, really, yes, people, many, many people come in saying they're atheists because they're mad at God or they're mad at the church, they're mad at something. And over time, when they get to see what's working in other people's lives, and they get to hear from the word and they hear from their counselors. And many people decide to make a spiritual change in their life that is a beneficial

Julian Rosado 16:08
change. Those shoulders relax, they do.

Major Boyd 16:11
And then, instead of scowling during a time of singing a worship song, they the smile comes on, and they start singing the words and and and they really become a part of the program. So those are only parts of the thing. Another part is a 12 step programs. We believe in the AA process to 12 Steps of AA, which are also in NA and HA and SA, CMA and many other a Right, right. We believe in them all as well as CR which is a more Faith Based program that uses similar steps and that is held at we have one that's held at Salvation Army's church on Palomino. And there are other CRS around town that people attend as well. So they have to go to 12 step meetings, and they have to have a 12 step sponsor. I think James may have mentioned that earlier, but they have to have a 12 step sponsor, and they have to meet with that sponsor at least once a week, face to face, and so they're meeting with a sponsor who is not part of our program. They're from the outside, and there's somebody that can be a recovery mentor to help guide them through the 12 Steps. They'll hold them accountable for things they might be doing or saying or thinking or planning, and hold their feet to the fire to help them change and become the man or woman they really want to be. So the recovery part is then part of, like I said, social model replicable when they leave. Well, we make them go to their meetings on their own. We could just take them dollar meetings, but when they get a job and get home from their job and change their clothes and get ready to go to meeting, guess what? There's no limousine sitting outside the door waiting.

Leaha Crawford 17:48
Really? Yeah, okay, go figure right. Go figure outside no car service.

Major Boyd 17:54
That's right. And so people have to get their something themselves there. So that's one of those things we do while they're in our program, since they're so busy, and many times they're up at 530 and they don't slow down till 910, o'clock at night. We do have some social activities and fun too, because if you can't have fun in recovery, then you're going to go back to where you used to have fun. We have softball team that's a lot of fun, as the guys play softball. We have above ground pool at the men's house and the women's house, yes, so they have a pool so they can enjoy that in the summer. We have exercise equipment and a basketball court and Horseshoe pit and things like

Multiple Voices 18:35
that. We went skating a couple weeks ago. That's right, went to the skating rink. Did you fall down?

Destiny 18:41
Much I did. I actually ran a kid over.

Major Boyd 18:45
No, we just had a group of guys go down to Lake Mead, and they went fishing. How many did we catch? More out

James 18:54
of nine people? Unfortunately, we didn't get any fish that day. You didn't even see fish. We saw a lot of fish that were smarter than us,

Major Boyd 19:02
but you had a great day because you were hanging out, doing something fun, doing something social, and that's part of the important part of the program. So you have the spiritual part. We have the work part, we have the classes and the education part and the recovery part. And all of it works together, and all of it is important, and together this comprehensive, holistic approach to helping people with drugs and alcohol is the one that works. Our average is three times the national average for recovery centers. In terms of success, I love it, and the fee to get in this successful program is $0 I love

Leaha Crawford 19:37
it and for more information. For more information, 1-800-728-7825 again, 1-800-728-7825

Leaha Crawford 19:52
get help. Salvation army.org, so if you know someone that has an addiction and. You know someone that is struggling right now, there's an opportunity out there for them. And I thought it was very important to expose our listeners some of the stories of some of the participants, so that they can hear you know, you're not alone.

Julian Rosado 20:15
Yeah, I have a question. Okay, what do you guys see with the with the new recovery? What do you guys see as the future,

Destiny 20:22
what's your five year plan? Yeah, my five year plan. Oh, I wasn't ready for that question,

Leaha Crawford 20:31
what's first thing that comes to your mind?

Destiny 20:33
So I definitely want to, I just want to be able to help people, because what they say is a part well with so we go to AA meetings, and I have to remain teachable, okay? And so what I am being taught is to stay sober. We put God first. We be a service, and we're of unity. And so I want, as a part of my five year plan, I want to have a career in helping people in the same situation that I am, that I am in, because I know that with the struggles that I've been through, with the trauma that I experienced in my life, the life or death situations that I've been put in and I'm still here. You know, they say, God uses the ones with the most scars. So I know that I have a purpose in my life, and if I could just help the next woman or man to see that it is possible and

Julian Rosado 21:41
inspire a new purpose? Yes, absolutely. All

Leaha Crawford 21:44
right, James, how about you? Five years? What we got?

James 21:46
I wanted to back up to something major, the work therapy. One thing that it definitely helped me with was I could experience mistakes during work therapy, as opposed to in the real world, these are things that I might have lost my job. So being able to deal with different attitudes of different gentlemen, learning how to deal with things correctly in a day to day matter, without having to lose a job, with having a little correction in a polite sort of way. That teaches me was amazing. Also, if I had to have like a tooth fixed or go to the hospital in a real world job, missing a couple days of work might hurt the bills in the end of the month here I'm able to get stuff fixed that might need fixed in my body, while not having to lose a job. That to me, is important as well, the teaching aspect of the work therapy, to do things right, how to do it properly, how to do it without yelling, how to ask questions, how to do something when I don't want to do it just because someone else told me to it. Those are important. And in real life, very important, because real life, yeah, you have to do that. Those are job, win or lose things. And at this center, I'm able to learn that with maybe a corrective action, as opposed to losing a job. And that, to me, is priceless.

Leaha Crawford 23:30
We talk about that a lot in professional settings, about toxic environments, and there are a lot of toxic environments that

James 23:37
people work. We say in the warehouse a lot, if you can deal with it here. You can deal with it in the real world, because it it's 10 times worse than the real where people I work around people that understand me, okay, they're like minded and the real world, they're not as sensitive, they're not as understanding. They're not going to give me a break when I might need a break because of a mistake.

Leaha Crawford 24:00
But there are some employers out there that will and I think that also is researching companies, understanding the type of person where you're working, who you're working for, because there are some companies that are that that care about their employees. And

Julian Rosado 24:15
what I learned through is just understanding perspectives, which took time, you know, understanding people's perspectives. You know, anytime you get into an argument or a conversation with an arms lawyer, you know you just understand where they're coming from. You know deeply. You know if they have a hard time at home or something like that, that's was really good to understand. You know if they have kids, or if they have or their, possibly their financial situation, because they it's it's impossible not to bring that to work. And so I

Leaha Crawford 24:49
don't think it's impossible. I think that there's a level of maturity, social and emotional maturity, that comes with i. Because ideally, what I believe, and this is just, this is me, an external force, shouldn't change who I am, because if I truly am a kind person, I am going to be kind in all of my dealings. If I am true. I mean, but, but? Who are you authentically? And I think that is because only person you can change is you, but who are you authentically? Um, so when I mean because, you know, for a lot of people, it is hard, it is hard, but it's self work. And what I'm hearing at the Salvation Army is that they're not pointing a finger at somebody else, they're looking at the three fingers that are pointing at them. Yes, because the person you can change is you, yeah, that's the person and the tools, because all these are tools, and you need a toolbox, right? Because everybody wasn't raised in a healthy environment. Everybody wasn't raised in a productive environment, right? And some of us were thrown up and all of a sudden we're 18 and we're out there. Yes, and this is a way for you to get some of the lessons that you probably didn't learn before in a healthy way, right? Yeah, and it's not $1 attached to it, it's genuine. Yes, so that's why I thought it was important to bring them on it today. Okay, yeah, no. And if you want assistance, need help, sometimes not knowing how to ask, you know, just don't know how to ask, because I'm embarrassed, you know. And for them to be there in the city, in Sin City, nonetheless, right? Contact information is 800-728-7825 800-728-7825

Destiny 26:55
I just wanted to say something to the listeners. If you can hear my voice right now, and you're in a dark place, or you're in your addiction, I just want to let you know that I was there in the same place. I had no hope, I had no direction in my life. It was a constant battle on a daily basis. What am I going to do? What's happening? Why do I feel this way? I just want to let you know that there is hope. Salvation Army has been able to provide me with a hope for my future, for to living a better life, and it is so worth it. And I just hope and pray that you find your way the doors always open, and we would love to have you. We would be so excited for you to come in and want to better your life. Thank you well. You

Leaha Crawford 27:49
are so well that brings us to the end of the show. So I want to say thank you. Thank you destiny. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you guys. Thank you James, thank you for having us, for sharing your story and being open and vulnerable to say, you know, I came through once, and I had to come back again because I realized I needed a little bit more and major. Boyd, thank you for leading this program and taking on this. This is huge, especially in this community. Okay, pleasure being here. Thank you. You're welcome. Julian. Julian, Julian, Juneteenth, Juneteenth, Juneteenth, happy, Juneteenth, everyone and we will see you next week. Peace and blessings. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai