Kenneth's Story Of Hope

Freedom – Day 3,631* and Counting

At nine-years-old Kenneth started using drugs. He began by sniffing the model glue he got at the local Five & Dime.  He didn’t know it then, but that glue was the first step in what would become a nearly 40-year battle with drugs and alcohol.  But Kenneth never seemed like a person who was always high.  At 19 he enlisted in the Army, at 20 he joined the Navy; “Even though I couldn’t swim,” he explained. But Kenneth was determined to succeed. In three days he went from a Class D swimmer to a Class A swimmer.  “My mom had just died, I was an only child and I didn’t know what to do with myself,” he said, “Because I’m poor and this is the one way I’ve got to keep the world free.”

After four years in the Navy, Kenneth worked for the Department of Defense and later held a variety of jobs - many with the federal government - all while nursing his alcohol and drug addiction. Yet you never would have known, “I never once had to go to a soup kitchen or a shelter,” Kenneth said.  Finally, his drug and alcohol addiction spiraled out of control and Kenneth quit his job.  Out of desperation he began robbing banks to continue funding his drug habit.  “I believe in something my grandfather use to say,” Kenneth explains looking back, “You get by… you don’t get away.” Kenneth was caught and went to prison – not once, but twice – his second sentence served in a federal maximum security facility.

His second time out, Kenneth took a different path. “I got tired of chasing death,” he said. “I didn’t have a re-entry program my first time, so I didn’t give it any thought about hitting the streets – I just wanted out of there.  This time I said no. I have to do my own program; I can’t let anyone do it for me. I knew if I went back [to prison] I’d be done – I’m there for life.”

Committed to making a change Kenneth entered Volunteers of America Chesapeake’s ResidentialRe-EntryCenter under the direction of Gretchen Crosland.  “I think Ms. Crosland knew deep down I was a good person, I just made some bad choices in my life,” he said.  Through Volunteers of America Chesapeake’s Residential Re-Entry Center Kenneth was able to connect with the resources he needed to deal with his addictions and treat his (until then, undiagnosed) mental illness.  He also benefited from Volunteers of America Chesapeake’s continuum of care; securing a spot in one of Volunteers of America Chesapeake’s Baltimore Mental Health’s Group Homes. “Had it not been for Volunteers of America Chesapeake there is no doubt in my mind I’d be back in prison,” Kenneth said.

Instead, Kenneth thrives in his group home. He not only participates in the daily group activities but has also taken a leadership role; cooking meals for the home. “Now my new high is cooking,” Kenneth said, “I cook here everyday, I cook for the whole house.” His specialty is Italian Sausage.

Volunteers of America Chesapeake’s programs have not only helped Kenneth become self-reliant they’ve also helped him to become an active member in his community; helping his neighbors who live around his home.  “I call my neighbor and wake her up every day because she suffers from sleep apnea.” She is just one of the three neighbors Kenneth regularly looks after.  Another recently let Kenneth take care of her house while she went on a trip to Egypt for two weeks.  “They call them my golden girls,” he explained, “because they are three elderly ladies that all live next to each other and I help them out.”

In the past six years living in his group home Kenneth has not only helped out his neighbors and his housemates, but has taken tremendous steps to help himself.  On January 5, 2010 Kenneth will celebrate 10 years in recovery. “I can’t wait for January the fifth so I can say I have 3,650 days,” Kenneth said, “But I want to give Volunteers of America Chesapeake a lot of the credit because of how they placed me. My biggest fear overall is that I have to leave this program.”

            Instead of focusing on his fear Kenneth now lives a life full of hope, dignity and continuing to make positive life changes.

            His New Year Resolution for 2010? “To be the best I can be,” he said, adding, “You can do a lot of good things for yourself and when you die, they die with you; but when you do good things for other people… they stay behind you.”

Interview & Article by Courtney Dunn

*Originally printed 12/17/09