THE PRODIGAL SUN The Newsletter of Prodigals Community Fall 2000

Car Care Business Off to Booming Start
by Jeff Coppage

     A new baby is being born this Christmas at Prodigals Community. Our newest job-training business is bursting forth with life. Our custom car cleaning and prep business is now under-way.  It is an on-site business, designed to employ the time and talents of those residents not assigned to full-time painting or janitorial crews.
     Donated used cars are being solicited from area dealers, supporting churches and individuals. The donors receive a tax-deduction, and Prodigals receives the vehicle which will be used by a program graduate or be sold for revenue to fund our recovery services. Either way our car cleaning crew goes to work on the donated vehicle, increasing its value with a thorough “deep-clean”, wash, wax, and even cleaning and degreasing the engine.
     The car cleaning business also has begun doing “prep work” for a local finance company affiliated with Southern Community Bank. Our crew does the same “detailing” work on their cars which are then picked up and sold at wholesale automobile markets.
     And Thursdays through Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., the car cleaning crew can be found next door to Prodigals in the Food Lion parking lot hand washing cars. Customers have been praising the thorough clean they get for a price much less than area detailing shops.
     Jeff Watkins, a Prodigals alumnus, is the crew chief responsible for the sparkling products. He has been successfully running our janitorial crew for three years.
     If you would like to know more about donating your used car, or know of a dealer or company that could use our services, give Andy Novotney a call at 785-0770.
 Our motto?
 “Clean from the inside out!”

    Our Board is currently evaluating the need and feasibility of faith-based support and education services to churches and family members of alcoholics and addicts. This is part of a 3-year plan adopted this past August. Chandra Irvin of Mt. Zion Baptist Church is chairperson of the Board’s Church Relations committee which has identified the need for these services.
     The goal for 2000 and 2001 is to get feedback from area churches about the perceived needs and level of support available. In 2002, we hope to start a Family Recovery Center on-site to serve these needs based on the level of church support available.
     The ministers we have met with so far are generally interested in the possibility of Prodigals Community providing help to families struggling with addiction. The most common concern has been how to talk to their congregations about addiction. Most ministers know this problem exists but no one is talking about it. Offering education to families on improving communication skills and recognizing the unhealthy patterns of coping with stress may be a way to begin to address the dysfunctional family system. This would increase awareness and dialogue about many forms of addiction, including work addiction and caretaking others to the exclusion of self.
     Another question asked by ministers is where to refer family members for help. Making contacts with churches has generated some calls to Prodigals Community asking for help with referrals. We have made a list available for referrals to be used until the Family Recovery Center is in operation.
     We are now in the process of having an Alanon meeting at New Salem or at a location near by for any family members needing support and guidance in coping with addicts and alcoholics. Alanon is a support group based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. This is a self-help group with all the group members having addiction in their family. They support each other in taking care of themselves, stopping enabling behaviors (helping that lets the addict/alcoholic continue to use), and recognizing that family members are powerless over the drugs and alcohol that their loved ones consume. We hope to have this meeting available in the next few months. Until then, if you are interested in support from these groups you can call the Winston-Salem Alanon Office at (336) 723-1452 to obtain information about where these meetings are currently held.
     In looking at the information gathered so far on the surveys, education and referral appear to be the most needed services. In looking at the surveys by group, there have been classes and committees who have mostly reported “DON’T KNOW” to the questions about the need for family services. In these same groups there have been several that reported they would “Seek these services” if they were provided. This tells us that the need is there and the very groups they participate in at their churches “DON”T KNOW” enough about the existence of the problem to know the services are needed. Therefore, those needing these services are not able to get support from their church groups. This is exactly why we feel the Family Recovery Center is needed.
     Everyone interested in the project or who just wants more information on addiction and recovery is invited to attend  Family Recovery Group meetings which will be held the second Tuesday of every month at 8:15 p.m. in the Prodigals Community Library, off the Sanctuary.
     In order to keep everyone up to date on the progress of the Family Recovery Center Project, we will be providing a quarterly newsletter devoted to family information. It will give you the latest report on the surveys, as well as provide information on addiction and recovery. There will be a question and answer column to which interested readers may anonymously address their concerns about addiction, how families are affected, and recovery for addicts and their families.  If you have questions you would like answered anonymously in the newsletter you can call, write, or e-mail karen@prodigals.org and watch for the answers in our first edition. If you would like to receive a copy of the “Families Yearning for Information- FYI”, please let us know and we will put your name on the mailing list.
     We are excited about the progress we have made and the interest that this project has generated. We feel very hopeful about the future of the Family Recovery Center and look forward to continuing the growth with our Church Partners.

Karen Lawson is a part-time substance abuse counselor for women and also temporary manager of long-range program planning.

PASTOR/DIRECTOR’S LETTER
by Jeff Coppage

     How great is the courage that we see daily in those recovering from chronic substance abuse. It is amazing. Where does it come from? Such courage. Courage to face the pain. Face the abuse. Face the shame and guilt that inevitably leads to more pain. More abuse. More hell.
     Yet everyday these men and women within Prodigals community, who have every reason to run,  choose to “stick and stay” in an intense 24/7 program that means looking their worst fears, lost faith in themselves and  in God straight in the eye and saying: “I will not be controlled by you anymore.” Recovery from such a state is nothing but a miracle. It is absolutely amazing!
 Chronic drug abuse is hell.  It is a place of endless misery. It starts before the first beer, the first joint, pill, or hit. It starts at birth. Genetic codes create a body chemistry with a pre-disposition for craving more and more of various toxic chemicals.
     Social drinkers can absorb the chemicals in moderation. They do not become controlled by the chemicals. They can deal with life’s hurts and excesses without being consumed by the booze or the drugs. The addict can’t.  Life leads to drinking, which leads to problems, which leads to guilt and shame, which leads to more drinking ...
     At some point, the only relationship that matters is to the “drug of choice.” Everything else is expendible. Money. The family’s money. The family or loved ones that used to matter. Pride. Self-esteem. Self-respect. Value for one’s own life. Finally one loses the faith that even God would love “a wretch like me.”
     In a recent Rolling Stone magazine, Johnny Cash remembered it this way, “…[I] put myself in such a low state that I couldn’t communicate with God. There’s no lonelier place to be. I was separated from God, and I wasn’t even trying to call on him. I knew that there was no line of communication. But he came back. And I came back.”
     Chronic addiction to alcohol and other drugs is a spiritual disease. It kills the spirit. One loses any sense of connection with God. When the church responds with “shame on you”, it only deepens the chasm between despair and faith.
     Only Grace can save a soul that has already gone to hell (it just hasn’t died yet). Shame-breaking. Guilt-transforming. Gentle but powerful Grace.  Love that can’t be earned. Or lost. Unconditional. Christ-like love. Love that is most powerful in our weakest moments. The love of the manger, the servant-God, the cross and the empty tomb. Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound.

     Six proud and courageous men and women stepped up Sunday, November 12 to receive certificates recognizing their completion of the rigorous 15-month New Salem program. This group constituted the largest group of people completing the New Salem program at one time that Prodigals Community has seen in five years.
     A crowd of more than 100 people filled the Sanctuary at Prodigals Community to witness the ceremony. They were welcomed by Board of Directors member George Griswold. During the service, the graduates spoke to the audience about their own recovery journeys and the struggles each had battled and continues to fight.
     Don Moore, Education Coordinator, described the education program offered to the residents. Many residents are able to work on their GEDs through the GED preparation program given at New Salem by Forsyth Tech. Others are able to take advanced academic and vocational classes at Forsyth Tech. Prodigals Community is able to offer opportunities to take classes at Forsyth Tech to both residents and program graduates through the generous gifts of those who attend  Step-up services.     Kenny Moten, Public Relations Chairman of the Alumni group, welcomed the new graduates into the alumni family. The Prodigals Community Gospel Choir provided special music and Rev. Pender Cates, also a Board member, gave the Benediction. A wonderful reception hosted by Forest Hill Baptist Church and Robinhood Road Baptist Church honor of the graduates followed

Staff News
Rusty Kiley has replaced Alan Hill as Paint Crew Chief. Alan’s own business is growing so rapidly he needs to devote all his time to it. Neil Maxey is helping as part-time administrative assistant. Many know Neil as accompanist and composer for the Prodigals Community Gospel Choir. He recently finished designing the Prodigals web site. And it is beautiful. Welcome Rusty and Neil! Jeff Coppage is HEALTHY! Three clean CAT scans. Go Jeff!

ALUMNI/AE NEWS
Fall 2000 alumna Darlis Farabee has joined the Prodigals staff as Program Intern, filling the position formerly held by Deborah Martin. Deborah is now employed by North Carolina Baptist Hospital as a Certified Nursing Assistant. Dennis Dawkins, alumnus and Board member, recently attended a conference in Atlanta with Pastor/Director Jeff Coppage and Prodigals substance abuse counselor Tommy Watson on non-profit management sponsored by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. Elaine Dessel has a new job. She is employed at Novant Health as a cash poster.

Spotlight on Volunteers
    Kudos and thanks go to George Shouse, Greg Hoots, Rev. Ann Dalton, Peter Valenti and Winn Weppner for planning and executing a stupendous Volunteer Recognition Evening.  More than 90 volunteers attended the September 11th occasion. Prodigals Community is grateful to the Friedberg Moravian Church Steel Drum Band for performing wonderful Caribbean music during dinner and to Coach “Bighouse” Gaines for his meaningful remarks during the worship service. It was a memorable evening. Thank you all.
     Many hands have worked hard to keep our campus in tip-top condition. Volunteers have included a youth work team from Weavers Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, VA and a group from Redeemer Presbyterian Church. There are always many tasks to be done to keep a facility as large as ours in good shape and we are very grateful to these work teams for working with our residents on maintenance tasks.
     Elaine and Mark Craddock have long been friends to all of us at Prodigals. For more than three years, they have led a Bible study group after the Monday worship service. They have also sponsored several residents on church passes to their former church, Fraternity Church of the Brethren. (Mark is now pastor of Maple Grove Church of the Brethren which Elaine also attends).
     Thanks go to Nancy and John Southard for once again hosting a day at Lake Norman for Prodigals Community. This outing is eagerly awaited each year. Several church groups have also invited our residents to join them on outings and to other church events. We are particularly grateful to Emmanuel Baptist and Trinity Moravian for their inclusion of New Salem residents.
     We at Prodigals Community thank all our volunteers. Without your dedication we would not be able to provide our residents the services they need and deserve.
      For information on volunteer opportunities, please call Darlis Farabee at 785-0770. Orientation sessions for new volunteers are scheduled for first Mondays of the month at 8:30 p.m. and third Sundays at 1:30 p.m.

Board Adopts Mission/Vision Statements
     The Prodigals Board of Directors, under the leadership of the chairman
Bill Yates, has devoted most of its time this past year to developing a three-year plan calling for program expansion, additional services for the residents and addressing the substance abuse needs of others in our community and our churches. As a result of the planning process, the Board approved the following new Mission Statement.
Within a Christian Community, we help individuals and familes whose lives are affected by drug and alcohol abuse. We provide residential programs to help addics and alcoholics live responsible and drug-free lives. We provide outreach ministries of education and support to familes of addicts and alcoholics.

Vision Statement
We will serve those whose needs are greatest.
We will call forth the best in those we serve.
We will set high professional standards.
We will reflect the transforming love of Christ.

    I ended up at Prodigals Community through a strange series of coincidences.  I was in search of a place that would allow me the opportunity to make a meaningful photoessay for a class, but I also wanted to take on a project that helped me to understand the nature of addiction.  People close to me have struggled, continue to struggle, with the demons of addiction, and I am always trying to find out how to better understand and support those individuals.  Ronnie Valenti suggested Prodigals; she was familiar with the unique program there because of her work with the GED program.  Ronnie accompanied me to my first Prodigals Monday night worship service, introducing me to people.  I found everyone incredibly welcoming and open to my project.
    The Monday that I first came to Prodigals had been an amazingly hectic and stressful day, one of many I’d been enduring lately.  It is almost ineffable, the uplifting spirit that infused me during the worship service.  I sat in the chapel, a stranger amongst friends, listening to everyone’s gratitudes and realizing how many of my own gratitudes I had been ignoring lately, concentrating instead upon my problems.  I know that Prodigals residents are beset by heavy problems, and yet they spoke out with a simple, honest passion for life that I had not known in quite some time.
    Though I have only been to Prodigals a handful of times, each time I go the earnest spirit that surrounds Prodigals rejuvenates me.  The people I meet, the hugs with which the residents greet me at Prodigals, are a testament to the indefatigable spirit of the group, and I would like to extend my own gratitude: thank you to the people of Prodigals for welcoming me as a friend, for allowing me to come in and not only document your world, but to become a part of it; it means a great deal to me.

Susanne Hall is a senior English major and Sociology minor at Wake Forest University. She plans to obtain a Ph.D. and teach at the university level.

Newsletter Archive

HOME | ABOUT US | APPLICATION PROCESS | CONTACT US | GETTING INVOLVED | NEWS & EVENTS | PROGRAMS & SERVICES | PRODIGALS PROPERTY SERVICES | SITEMAP