I was addicted to heroin.
I remember when I first got here, I said this out loud to people.
I said, I can't believe this place exists.
I came to Sparrow with a set of clothes, you know.
Sparrow kind of set me on my two feet and gave me the little nudge to meet people in
the community.
I did a lot of things for me that I couldn't have done for myself at that point.
And then after I left Sparrow, and for years I've, you know, come back here to support
clients.
What we're really measuring is engagement with the recovering community.
So that's Dawn Farm's mission.
We're taking people every single day while they're here to meetings and activities in
the community.
There are people that we're inviting to come here to volunteer.
I mean, it meshes completely.
We wouldn't survive without the volunteers.
The people want to come here and they want to help. It's like a mutualistic relationship,
you know, Sparrow and the community.
This town is based around that and the stigma of addiction is not so prevalent here.
Even the employers, recovery friendly, they hire people that's in recovery.
And in the absence of that, we couldn't do what we do.
So we're not a medical detox, we're a social detox.
So really we're providing a safe and structured atmosphere for people to be detoxing.
So we average about 40 volunteers and visitors that come up here every day.
I would say 99.9% of our volunteers are in the recovery community.
So while they're here doing work, they're also talking to the clients.
They're like, hey, I was here, you know, two years ago.
And this is why I struggle and this is what helped me.
The quickest, the most effective way to reach an addict is, you know, another addict.
Nobody really understands it unless you live it.
So who better to reach out and help them?
I used to spend a lot of time here washing dishes.
When you were here as long as I was every day, what a whole lot else to do?
In 2011, I was sentenced on my second DUI offense and one of the things that I was told
to do was get a job or do community service.
So I basically spent a 40 hour work week here.
It's been a learning experience and an opportunity to relate better to the people around me than
I used to.
I know I'm a lot more at peace.
It's so powerful to see someone come in who's volunteering their time and it's people that
have a week sober, it's people that have 10 years sober.
And so our clients seeing that positive recovery happening in people's lives on a daily basis,
it's amazing.
In order to see someone that has struggled, that is a chronic relapse or something, and
then all of a sudden now they have several years sober and they're up here volunteering.
We don't know who's going to get it this time around, so we give them a chance, you know.
The past December, I've been cleaning seven years, so I got seven years and three months
now.
No big deal.
Yes, I love cooking, my mom told me, I watched my mom when I was younger at first, you know,
I probably burnt the food up when I first started doing it, but after that I got used
to what I was doing.
If it came easy not to burn the food up, this is a fulfilling job that I'm doing, I like
doing it.
It's supposed to keep me sober at the same time.
I think that this has probably benefited Elvis in every aspect of his life, I bet he works
better with the people that he wants to work with.
They love me when they see me up there, that's why I've been there that long.
They love me, that's why.
Back when I was volunteering here, you know, this was a total place for me to like fall
back on, you know, like if I was having a bad day.
You know, if I were to come down to Sparrow and to speak with a newcomer, it would offer
me a new perspective on my own problems.
I continue to come here because it's an opportunity for me to be creative, to give back to the
people around me, to do something that I enjoy, which is cooking, and if things turn out well
I get all the accolades, it's just great, and if things don't turn out well I don't
have to eat it, so what more can you ask?
As a client, you're four days into your detox, you're not feeling great, it's such a mess
when they first get here, and then even just in five or seven days or two weeks, the change
is just like, I can't even begin to speak on how rewarding it is, and it's such a miracle.
I get to catch you at your worst and then see you at your best.
And nowadays to work here, I think it's just a big part of the life I love today too, so
I truly love this place, I think it's awesome.
I'm in a place that's full of hope, it's where it means hope.
I'm in a place that's full of hope.
