CHURCHES AIM TO GIVE DRUG ABUSERS HOPE

Faith Groups Step In To Combat Addiction In Eastern Kentucky

CORNETTSVILLE - Jeff Lee, a farmer from Whitley County, had been
through drug rehab before. More than once. So had Wes Caudill, 27, a
railroad worker from Clay County.

But the programs weren't long enough, they said. Or there was no
aftercare, nothing to hold on to when they got back to the places,
people and problems that had figured in their drug use. So they
slipped back into abuse.

These days, however, they think they'll be able to stay clear of drugs
through a program based on faith. The two are residents at Joshua's
Dream Foundation, which chairman Donnie Coots, a Pentecostal minister,
calls a "Bible boot camp of sorts."

Participants check in at the foundation's peaceful campus atop a steep
mountain in Perry County for an eight-month program of Christ-centered
education and mentoring aimed at overcoming addiction that also
includes secular education and required work details.

The foundation is an example of a growing effort by churches and
faith-based organizations in Eastern Kentucky to help fight what has
been called an epidemic of drug abuse in the region. Buoyed by a
belief that there is a role in the war on drugs for God as well as the
government, faith organizations are using their time, money and
facilities in various efforts to tackle the problem.

In Magoffin County, for example, half a dozen churches help support a
24-hour help line operated by REACH (Reaching Every Addict with
Christ's Help) that drug abusers can call to get a ride to a
detoxification center. REACH also operates support groups for drug
addicts and their families.

In Lee County, the non-denominational Kentucky Mountain Mission is
raising money to renovate a building and create a skating rink and
bowling alley so young people will have something to do besides hang
out where drugs are a temptation.

And in Clay County, where a coalition of more than 50 churches held an
anti-drug rally in May that drew an estimated 3,500 people despite a
cold rain, congregations sponsor an aftercare support program for
recovering addicts and are working to set up a detox capability and a
residential recovery program.

"I think the church is like a sleeping giant that just woke up," said
Doug Abner, pastor of Manchester Community Church, which is involved
in Christians for a Drug-Free Clay County. "This is a thing that's
actually making a difference."

The faith-based recovery programs are non-medical and do not provide
what the state defines as treatment, focusing instead on support and
education in a religious framework.

The approach is working for him, Caudill said. This time, he'll have
something to hold to when the program is over.

"With God, you've got something to back yourself up with," he said.

"This is the first time I've ever felt like I could do it," said Lee, 32.

Opening their doors

Churches throughout rural Kentucky have long been involved in programs
such as food banks and clothing centers for poor people in the
community, but tackling substance abuse as an outreach to non-members
is new for most.

In the past, several ministers said, people with drug or other
problems were welcome to come to church and seek spiritual help, but
churches did little to fight drugs outside their doors, even as abuse
of prescription painkillers and anti-depressants climbed to crisis
levels.

"I think we were available" to help people, but "I think we waited on
them to come to us. I don't think we reached out," said Gary Linville,
pastor of the House of Refuge in Rockcastle County.

Ministers said there were various reasons for that.

Some churches saw combatting drugs or helping addicts as jobs for the
police and courts and traditional treatment centers, and not a part of
their religious mission.

Some didn't recognize the severity of the problem, or were in denial
about it, or were afraid to risk crossing drug dealers. Many didn't
know what to do to try to help, and some were uncomfortable dealing
with drug abusers.

"The churches have just sat back and let it happen," Abner said.

But the problem eventually caused so much death and misery in so many
families -- poor, middle-class and affluent alike -- that churches
began realizing they had to join the fight, several ministers said.

"It's kind of forced our hand to step up to the plate and make a
difference," said Matthew Gullion, pastor of First Baptist Church in
Salyersville and president of REACH.

Many churches still are not involved in combatting drugs or helping
addicts. But so many are, Abner said, that "if somebody had gone to
sleep 20 years ago and woke up today, they'd think they were on a
different planet, church-wise, in Clay County."

The changes have caused excitement about the potential to whip the
drug problem, Abner said.

"It's a slow process, but we've started. We can turn this thing
around," he said.

Curing hopelessness

Karen Engle, executive director of a new anti-drug initiative in
Southern and Eastern Kentucky called Operation UNITE, said churches
can play a valuable role in combatting substance abuse because they
are recognized community institutions, geared toward service and made
up of caring people.

"I think it's valuable and necessary for the churches to be involved,"
Engle said.

UNITE, founded last year by U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, stands
for Unlawful Narcotics Investigation, Treatment and Education.

The program has been helping coordinate faith organizations as a
resource against drug abuse in the 29 counties covered in the program,
and is planning faith-based conferences in Hazard and Somerset in
September on how churches can incorporate anti-drug messages in
sermons and Sunday-school classes.

Drug abuse stems from a lot of factors, but churches are
well-qualified in particular to address the hopelessness that plays a
role, ministers said.

Joshua's Dream Foundation is further along than most other programs in
Eastern Kentucky in developing a residential, faith-based approach to
trying to beat drug addiction, though faith organizations in several
other counties are working to set up residential programs.

People in eight counties have contacted Joshua's Dream Foundation
about setting up branches of the program, said Jeff Coots, chief
executive of the foundation.

The foundation is named in honor of Joshua Coots -- Donnie's son and
Jeff's brother -- who died in July 2002 at age 22 because of health
problems related to his battle with drugs. After beating the bushes
for treatment, his dream had been to have a place like the foundation
where people could overcome drugs in a safe, Christian environment,
his family said.

Donnie Coots was ready to give up the fight against drugs after his
son died, but a woman begged him not to, saying other people would die
if he quit.

"We decided if we could keep somebody from going through that loss, it
was worth the risk," said Jeff Coots.

Joshua's family met to draw up plans for the program the day after his
funeral, and accepted the first residents in January 2003 at the
foundation campus, which was once an orphanage.

The foundation requires that participants complete a regular medical
detox stay before joining its program.

The program is about more than trying to give people a way to stay off
drugs, Coots said. It's about teaching them to live again after
they've been consumed by the search for the next high.

"We endeavor to put them in control again," he said.

Financial aid

Participants pay $2,600 to $8,900, based on their income. Jeff Coots
said the fee does not cover all costs, but is a way of getting drug
abusers and their families to take the program seriously.

The foundation could not survive without donations from churches and
individuals, Donnie Coots said.

The foundation has referred some people to other programs when they
did not want to take part in its Christ-centered approach.

Jeff Coots said 167 people enrolled in the program in 2003. Of those,
62 percent are living drug free, according to telephone surveys the
foundation did with former residents or their families.

It is possible faith organizations will receive greater recognition in
the fight against substance abuse as part of a drug-control plan being
developed by the administration of Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Faith-based groups offered suggestions about drug treatment and
education at summit meetings held around the state earlier this year
to gather information for Fletcher's plan.

"Particularly in Appalachia they are very motivated to be part of the
solution," said Karyn Hascal, acting director of the state Division of
Substance Abuse, who chaired the treatment panel during the series of
meetings.

The state could not give money directly to a religious organization,
however, Hascal said.

Hascal said research shows that recovery from substance abuse is aided
by "connectedness" to a group that is positive and productive, whether
that be a professional service, or a faith-based or lay program.

Traditional community-based treatment providers point out the
professional, proven safety net they offer has been in place a long
time without adequate funding.

Providers caution that faith organizations need to be careful about
safety as they set up residential recovery programs, because they
won't face as much state regulation as traditional treatment
providers. And treatment providers raise a concern over faith
organizations not being equipped to deal with -- or even recognize --
situations in which people have other problems "co-occurring" with
their substance abuse, such as depression.

Many people are so sick they need professional treatment, said Louise
Howell, executive director of the Kentucky River Community Care, which
provides mental-health and substance-abuse treatment.

But the treatment providers agree there is a role for faith
organizations in overcoming the state's drug problem.

"Any resource will help," Howell said.

Coots said the efforts of faith-based organizations complement the
work of other organizations in the fight against the state's daunting
drug problem.

"Brother, if comp care can get 'em off drugs, hallelujah. If we can
get 'em off drugs, hallelujah."

To get help

To find treatment options for substance abuse, call:

Kentucky Division of Substance Abuse (502) 564 2880

UNITE 866-90UNITE