HOPE HARBOR TURNING 30

DANVILLE, Va. - Hope Harbor, Danville's residential alcohol and substance
abuse center, is celebrating 30 years of serving recovering alcoholics in
the Dan River Region. Hope Harbor will have an open house Dec. 8 from
2-4:30 p.m. and will invite the community into the historic house to see
firsthand where recovering addicts struggle to beat their addiction.

"When Hope Harbor first opened we just had alcoholics," said the Rev.
Jeffrey Wright, executive director of Hope Harbor. "Now, more than half of
our residents are cocaine addicts."

Hope Harbor can house 38 men and has a consistent residential roster of
between 30 and 35 people.

Four men sleep in each bedroom on single beds.

The rooms in the 130-year-old house are large, and the areas around the
beds in the bedrooms have adequate space. The house was a boarding house
when Hope Harbor purchased it.

The house was purchased in 1972, after the Rev. John Stephenson, who
operated a similar facility in Greensboro, N.C., was contacted by a local
minister, the Rev. David Willis, about opening a center for recovering
alcoholics in Danville. The center was run by Stephenson for a few years
until a director could be found.

The Rev. Russell Strange was the director for 16 years, and under his
leadership Hope Harbor expanded. In 1979, a new dinning hall and chapel was
added to the house.

Under Wright the house has been updated and now has air conditioning and
modern plumbing. The residents and area volunteers have painted the outside
of the house and parts of the inside have been painted as well.

The next large project to modernize Hope Harbor will be building a
handicapped ramp.

"There is no good pattern of a Victorian handicapped ramp," Wright said.
"We are in the historical society and we have to comply with zoning
ordinances. We are going to follow the pattern of the porch railing, and as
we build the ramp we are going to replace sections of the railing that are
going bad. When we are finished it should look better than it does now and
we will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act."

The Hope Harbor mission is to provide a theraputic transitional environment
where men who are addicted to various substances are taught to live
productive and sober lives.

The residents are taught to be sober by trying to stay sober one day at a
time, attending sobriety meetings, and through individual counseling. The
residents are asked to stay at Hope Harbor at least 90 days many residents
stay much longer.

"There is no artificial environment here," Wright said. "These men learn to
stay sober in the real world. We are in walking distance to 28 12-step
programs, many of them are in churches. The men are required to work, we
will transport them. But being out there, they may pass by an area where
they used to buy cocaine or may come into contact with former drinking
buddies. They come back to Hope Harbor and can talk about their temptation
to people who can understand temptation."

About 70 percent of Hope Harbor's operating budget comes from outside work
the men do in the public and private sector. The residents will rake leaves
and do odd jobs for people in the private sector as well as securing a
full-time job with companies.

The residents help each other out. The residents who have seniority help
the new-comers obey the Hope Harbor rules and deal with their addictions.

"The minimum stay is 90 days, but I find those who make 90 days of sobriety
generally stay six months or longer," Wright said. "Some people stay
long-term. There is one man who has lived here 13 years. When I came as
director he was talking about leaving. He goes to work every day and comes
back here. He is like a grandfather to a lot of these guys. The old timers
will not let the new guys get away with anything. Their seniority seems to
give them a feeling of ownership. When some of the guys start talking about
how badly they need a drink, the old timers will say what helped them get
over the craving."

Some of the residents have become staff members after completing years of
sobriety training. Hope Harbor employs three full-time staff members, and
five full-time residential staff members.

All of the residents are expected to pull their weight and contribute what
they can.

"There have been times when the only person at Hope Harbor with a valid
driver's license is a resident who has only been here a couple of weeks,"
Wright said. "Most of the time, because someone is relying on them for a
ride to a job, these guys are reliable. I have had a time or two when we
have received a phone call from a driver who tells me he has relapsed and I
can find the car in a parking lot. It happens, we just do what we can to
prevent a relapse."

There is no entrance charge or processing fee to become a resident at Hope
Harbor. All of the residents are expected to work and pay their way as they
become sober.