Alpha House/Gresham Recovery Center

Two blocks from my home is a drug recovery center. As a resident who was concerned about home values and crime, this was not good. When I became an activist and tried to get others on my street involved in community-building, that drug rehab center was a point of contention on why neighbors wouldn't get involved. Apparently, before I moved in my home, my neighbors tried to fight the City on putting it in, but felt they were not heard, and no longer believed they could affect change.

This same drug rehab center is less than one block away from my cafe and now I view it much differently. Within one month of opening the cafe, a counselor from the Alpha House asked me if, on Sunday evenings, I could donate the left over coffee to the men in the residential program.

Once the plan was in place, I had a parade of recovering addicts walking down to my coffee shop with airpots ten minutes before closing. As I handed them the coffee they were appreciative and kind, and I heard a bit about their experiences. Some were in the program for the first time and looking forward to life when they were out, some were in the program time and time again and never managed to stay straight, some were still in the stage of feeling like they got the raw end of the deal by being stuck in a lifestyle where good coffee and other conveniences weren't readily available.

By the small token of giving away coffee that was going to be poured down the sink otherwise, I developed a team of helpers who looked out for my place. If they were outside and saw me pull up with stuff to unload, they would run over to offer help. When they had family and friends visit and were allowed to leave the facility, they would bring them over to my place. I watched so many of these gentlemen transition from in-patients to out-patients.

Pretty soon I would start seeing these men at different times of the day as they were heading off to their new jobs. Now they had paychecks and were happy to buy whatever they wanted with the money in the pocket and the newfound freedoms. And I look forward to each time they come in and tell me the next stage they've achieved. Some are buying houses, struggling through reuniting with their families, getting a car again. Some have jobs that take them out of state and they work to get clearance from their probation officer to go to sunny Arizona. Yeehaw!

Last night a face from the past came in to say hello and order a quad mocha. He was back on this side of town to attend the graduation of some of his old friends from the program. He was happy and proud of what he'd accomplished and he was happy for his friends. No sooner had he walked out the door, a reunion took place on the sidewalk. Two gentlemen from the center who were about to graduate were heading to the cafe and they grabbed each other for a hug, then all came in.

The two who were graduating ordered "fancy" drinks, and as I was making the drinks they were busy posing and taking pictures of one another with their camera phone. One of the soon-to-be graduates was saying he already had a great job lined up. I commented, "Wow! you guys sure make it sound like it's easy to get a job. You're graduating and you already have one!" The graduate looked at me with a smile and said, "Ya' know, it's amazing how much easier everything becomes when you start doing the right thing."

As a neighbor who has a home, it is disappointing to know that we get them in Rockwood when they're broken, and they leave Rockwood once they're better. As a business owner in Rockwood, I hope the neighborhood collectively gives these guys enough good memories to come visit or stay in Rockwood as they transition to being productive citizens who may have a deeper knowledge on how to overcome hardships then many of us will ever know.