Don Moore was appointed Executive Director of Prodigals Community and began work September 1, 2002. Many know Don through his past work as part-time Education Coordinator and in other capacities at Prodigals. A native of Siler City, Moore was the former Executive Director of Right Turns for Youth (formerly Court Volunteers of Forsyth County). He came to Winston-Salem in 1960 to attend Wake Forest University. Don and his wife, Terry, have three grown children.

Chandra Irvin, 2002 Chair of the Board of Directors, said "Don’s dedication to the ministry of Prodigals Community has been demonstrated by his part-time service as coordinator of the education program at here since 1997. We are confident in his ability to take this ministry forward."

John A. McDougall in the book Spirituality defines spirituality as the quality or nature of our relationships in three dimensions: with a Higher Power, with ourselves, and with other people. Religion is defined as a system of beliefs and behaviors that are intended to improve spirituality. We often confuse the two. At Prodigals Community it is essential that we know this difference. The common tendency is to work first on our religious beliefs and practices and assume that we will become more spiritual. The reverse works better.

Spiritual attributes can be defined as honesty, faith, hope, courage, integrity, willingness, humility, compassion, justice, perseverance, awareness, and service. We incorporate these things in our recovery program at Prodigals. These characteristics are far easier to talk about than to do. The honesty of admitting we are addicted is a good and necessary starting point, but alone does not produce change. Hope is achieved by sharing and listening to the ways our life and others are changing. We are often so controlling or so far in denial that we do not have the faith to turn our lives over to the care of God, or the courage to take a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. The bottom line of these spiritual principles is to surrender, and surrender means doing the work and letting God handle the results. And from surrender, we come to acceptance which says that "I am powerless over my addiction".

It is statistically reported that abstinence alone from harmful substances is not enough; the same person will drink or use again. Abstinence combined with an emotional and mental change produces a prognosis of "moderate". These practices, combined with a spiritual change, improve the odds of recovery to "good". But to combine all these with a daily spiritual practice such as prayer, keeping a journal, going to 12 Step meetings, and meditation, chances become "excellent". The daily spiritual practice allows us to incorporate the spiritual principles into lives.

All of our groups at Prodigals are based upon upholding spiritual principles. Our Sunday evening session is designed to allow residents to reflect on how they upheld or violated spiritual principles during the past week. This gives our residents the opportunity to invoke change as needed in order to live honestly. Further, it affords residents the opportunity to focus upon spiritual change and to include daily practices as a basis for recovery.

In summary, spirituality is about change. It is about "letting go and letting God" and "chopping wood and carrying water". It is about watching what happens to us when we incorporate spiritual principles into our lives where ego and self formerly ruled supreme.

Spotlight on Volunteers

Volunteers are an integral part of Prodigals Community. Without our volunteers, Prodigals Community would not be able to provide residents with the quality of services we offer. Individuals who feel called to volunteer in Prodigals’ ministry serve in a variety of ways. They tutor in the Wednesday and Friday evening education program, teach special skills to the residents, bring meals to share before Monday worship, participate in our worship service, serve on the Board or on committees, take residents on outings, and volunteer as Resident Assistants. Church groups frequently choose Prodigals Community for a mission project.

Once a year, in September, we celebrate our volunteers at a special recognition dinner and worship service. In 2002, close to one hundred people attended the dinner which was hosted by First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem. Volunteers from First Baptist provided and served the meal here at Prodigals New Salem campus. Rev. David Hughes, pastor of First Baptist Church, offered the opening prayer at the worship service and Don Moore, Prodigals Community’s new Executive Director gave the message. A youth choir from Second Calvary Baptist Church provided special music.

If you or your church group are interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities at Prodigals Community, please call Valerie von Isenburg at 785-0770.

Commercial Janitorial Services

Residential and Commercial Painting

Miscellaneous Yard Work

Small Moving Jobs

Car Wash Available in Good Weather

For estimates or more information, call Chuck at 785-0770, ext. 111