Surely we have a 'common purpose' that we can all unite behind

I read about a great example of recovery advocacy in yesterday’s (Saturday 30th) edition of The New York Times. Under the heading of The Clean and Sober Champion, it described how the Texan Rangers outfielder, Josh Hamilton, had battled to overcome his dependence on alcohol and drugs. Hamilton, who led the American League this year with a .359 batting average, speaks openly about how his addiction cost him nearly four years of his baseball career and almost destroyed his life.

Hamilton was involved in a car accident during the first month of spring training with Tampa Bay in 1999. He injured his back and was unable to play. Without the game to anchor his days, he began abusing drugs and alcohol, and a habit that he said was born of boredom quickly became a compulsion.

Eight trips to rehab followed, but it was not until he became a Christian that he was able to change his life around. And the one verse that proved to be his salvation was from the Book of James: “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

Hamilton has been a role-model to others. Anthony Hargrove, who plays for the reigning Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, and who was himself suspended for the 2008 N.F.L. season after failing multiple drug tests, described Hamilton as “a light for those in the dark.”

Hamilton likes to talk openly about his experiences so that he can reach out to help as many people as possible. During batting practice before the two games in San Francisco, he signed autographs for people who had also suffered difficulties with addiction and they thanked him for going public.

“I talked to a couple of fans who were clean and sober for 14 months,” he said, “Hats off to them!”

And hats off to Hamilton too for being such a fine role-model to others. As Nolan Ryan, the Rangers president said: “I don’t think that I can truly appreciate what he’s overcome and the way he’s handled it. To me, it’s a phenomenal story.”


I arrived in Philadelphia on the third stage of my Winston Churchill Fellowship late last night. The two weeks ahead has much in store for me. Here’s my itinerary and the names of some of the people I’ll be privileged to meet:


Wales Visit: November 1 - 12, 2010
Philadelphia Contact: Jennifer Dorwart 267 825 6861


Mon, Nov. 1, 2010: Pre Meeting Schedule Review:

11:30am – 12:00pm Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to Lunch

12pm – 2pm Lunch Meeting: Roland and Jennifer
Location: Rangoon / Jones

2:00pm – 2:30pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

Day 1: Tues, Nov. 2, 2010: DBH Overview & Storytelling Training

9:00am - 9:30am Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to DBH

9:30am – 11:00am Meeting: System Transformation Overview
Participants: Michelle Khan - Policy and planning, training and workforce development. Kyra Turner – Community Connections and Mobilization. Jennifer Sears – OAS Provider Development and Transformation Initiatives.
Location: Suite 7100

11:15am – 12:15pm Lunch Meeting: Overview of Philadelphia System with Executive
Location: CBH Board Room
Contact: Gloria Barrow (215) 413 3100

12:15pm – 12:30pm Jen will transport Wynford to PROACT

12:30pm – 4:00pm Meeting: Family Storytelling
Location: PROACT 444 Nth 3rd
Contact: Jazmin Banks (215) 685-4989

4:00pm – 4:30pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

Day 2: Wed, Nov. 3, 2010: System Transformation Activities &
Building a Peer Culture

9:00am - 9:30am Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to PRCC

9:45am – 12:00pm Meeting: PRCC and Peer Leadership Group
Location: PRCC 1701 West Lehigh Ave
Contact: Bev Haberle 215 262 5771

12:00pm – 12:30pm Jen will transport guests to Lunch

12:30pm – 1:30pm Lunch Meeting:

1:30pm – 2:00pm Jen will transport Wynford to MHA

2:15pm - 3:30pm Meeting MHA and Wendy Williams
Location: Chestnut Street
Contact: Bill Dinwiddie 215-751-1800, ext. 503

3:30pm – 4:00pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

5:30pm – 7:30pm Dinner Meeting: Bev Haberle
Location:?

Day 3: Fri Nov 5, 2010: Innovative Recovery Oriented Clinical Services

8:30am - 9:00am Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to NET

9:00am – 11:00am Meeting: Northeast Treatment Centre Consumer Council
Location: NET Recovery Support Centre
Contact: Sonia or Karen

11:15am – 12:00pm Jen will transport Wynford to STOP

11:45pm – 1:45pm Meeting: STOP & Beck
Location: Broad Street with Regina B.
Contact: Natalie Charney 215 227 7867

1:145pm – 2:00pm Jen will transport guests to STOP

2:45pm – 4:00pm Meeting: Chronic Homeless Program
Location: NPHS with Tim Sheahan 215 680 0130
Contact: Tony Moses

4:00pm – 5:00pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

5:30pm – 7:30pm Dinner Meeting: Bev Haberle?
Location:
Contact:


Day 4: Mon. Nov 8, 2010: Building Community Capacity
9: 15am - 9:45am Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to ODAAT

9:45am – 11:00am Meeting: One Day At a Time
Location: 2432 W Lehigh Ave
Contact: Mel Wells & Darryl Chapman
215-226-7860


11:00am – 11:15am Jen will transport Wynford to New Pathways

11:15am – 12:15pm Meeting & New Pathway Projects
Location: 166 W. Lehigh Ave
Contact: Eugenia: 215 740 9672
12:15pm- 1:15pm Lunch

2:15pm – 3:00pm Jen will transport Wynford to Women House of Hugs

3:00pm - 4:30pm Meeting Women House of Hugs and Rhonda Johnson Rhonda.L.Johnson@Phila.Gov 215 215 546 6435
Location: Girard Ave
Contact: Tracie Kilgore Poe 215-294-6550

4:30pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

5:00pm – 7:30pm Dinner Meeting: Dr. Evans
Location: Chandra Brown 215 685 4732

Day 5: Tues. Nov 9, 2010: Strengthening Community Partnerships
(Kyra will Coordinate)
9:45am – 10:00am Jen will pick up Wynford from hotel transport to BHSI

10:00am – 10:30am Meeting: Kyra Tour of Mural Arts and Community Projects
Location: BHSI

10:30am – 10:45am Jen will Transport to SeaMaac

11: 00am - 11:45am Meeting: SeaMaac with Kyra
Location: 1711 S. Broad Street - 2nd Flr.
Philadelphia, PA 19148
215-467-0690 Voice
(Broad & Tasker-Morris)

11:45am – 12:00pm Jen will Transport to Mural Arts

12:00pm – 2:00pm Lunch Meeting: Mural Arts Visit and Tour with Kyra
Location: City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
The Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center
at the Thomas Eakins House
1727-29 Mount Vernon Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130

2:00pm –2:30pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the PRCC

2:30pm – 4:30pm Meeting: Wales Study Tour Debriefing with DBH staff and other study tour participants.
Location: PRCC Bev Haberle 215 262 5771

4:30pm – 5:00pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel


Day 6 Wed. Nov 10: Supporting Research, Outcomes and Wrap Up

9:15am – 9:30am Jen will pick up Wynford from hotel transport to

9:30am – 10:30am Meeting: Continuous Quality Improvement, Data & TRU
Participants: Cathy Bolton, Suet Lim & Sam Cutler
Location: CBH – Small Conference Room

11:00am – 1:00pm Lunch Meeting: Wrap up with Roland and Jen
Location

1: 00pm Jen will transport Wynford to hotel



As you can appreciate this itinerary has taken some organising. I’m greatly indebted to Jennifer Sears (nee Dorwart) – she recently got married – for her skill in arranging all these appointments for me. I don’t think anyone could have asked for more!


This morning (Sunday 31st October) I attended a service at Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church in the heart of Philadelphia and met Friar James Gavin, a Pastoral Associate there. In a matter of minutes I got a potted history of this “truly international” church, first founded in 1830. As James told me, “People come here the world over: from Peru to Paris; Bombay to Western Samoa; Tonga to Tobago; Berlin to Boudreaux.” And buried in its cemetery is Thomas Penn-Gaskell, the last descendent of William Penn, the famous Quaker and the founder of Pennsylvania. Apparently Thomas converted to Catholicism on what he thought was his death bed, and then survived a further 5 years. Alongside Thomas lie the remains of Anna Maria Hallarte de Yturbide, the first queen of Mexico, and her 3 youngest children. Her husband was Prime Minister of Mexico and made himself king and his wife queen. The Mexicans killed her husband but Queen Anna Maria escaped with her family to Philadelphia.

James’ greatest claim to fame, however, is his ongoing friendship with Francis Campbell, the British Ambassador to the Pope in Rome. James first met Francis when he came to study at the University of Pennsylvania. James believes that he’s a great ambassador for Britain and credits him with the success of the Pope’s recent visit to the U.K. It was so successful, James said, “Because Francis Campbell decided to concentrate on what unites us rather than on what divides us.”

I think we in the Substance Misuse field could well learn from Francis’ example. Surely we have a ‘common purpose’ that we can all unite behind.

I made two new friends after the service as well, and they drove me around the centre of Philadelphia and took me to see Capel Dewi Sant (St David’s Chapel), the only surviving Welsh Chapel in Philadelphia, which merged with the Arch Street Presbyterian Church in 1970. I intend meeting up with my newfound friends next Sunday, when we’ll go out for Sunday lunch together. I also hope to attend a service at the Welsh chapel and meet up with some members of the Welsh Society here.

It was good to see USA/Russian relations restored somewhat this week as both countries joined forces with Afghan to eradicate several drug laboratories in Afghanistan. The operation, in which four opium refining laboratories and over 2,000 pounds of high-quality heroin worth $55.9 million were destroyed, was the first to include Russian agents. Russia and the United States created a counter narcotics working group last year in part to reconcile past disagreements, and this week’s raid on the heroin factories appears to be a step in that direction.

And news of a new law that’s been introduced here in the U.S.: Carmen Huertas, a drunken driver, was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison for killing, Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old girl who was a passenger in her car. Her death prompted a law that made it a felony for people to drive while drunk with children in the vehicle. The felony carries a minimum sentence, which is probation, and a maximum sentence, 5 to 15 years imprisonment. Previously, drunken driving was a felony or misdemeanour, depending on the driver’s record, without regard to vehicle occupants. However, because the new law was passed after Ms. Huerta’s crash, it did not apply to her.
Mr Justice Solomon told her that he would not give her the minimum sentence nor the maximum sentence, but added, “In good conscience I can’t give you that much of a reduction from the maximum sentence. It’s not about revenge, it’s about justice.”

And this Sunday afternoon I went shopping in Macy’s, Philadelphia, and ended up enjoying an organ recital given by Gordon Turk. Mr Turk has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, and Japan. And today, I felt that he performed on the Wanamaker Organ at Macy’s just for me!

His programme, which was presented in loving memory of Albert J. Derr, a lifelong Friend of the Wanamaker Organ, included works by Chucherbutty, Johann Sebastian Bach, Edvard Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Vierne and Sousa. At 2.30pm prompt the central shopping area at Macy’s became a concert hall and the navy-blue socks I’d been shopping for were forgotten as shoppers were showered by the cascading notes of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

I don’t have the time or the space to tell you about my adventures with my family in Boston and New York last week. Suffice to say I loved every minute of their wonderful company and tops for me were our visits to the theatre to see the Lion King and to the top of the Prudential Centre in Boston, and the Rockefeller Centre in New York. I’d also like to tell you about my visit to the Wilson House, Bill W’s old home in East Dorset (where I shared), and of my meeting with Barbara Cimaglio, Deputy Commissioner Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programmes, Vermont Department of Health, and her team in Brattleboro. But you’ll have to wait until the video-diary of my Churchill Fellowship is edited and dubbed back in Tinopolis Ltd, Wales.

Then, I hope, you’ll all get to experience the wonder that this scholarship is turning out to be.

The music I’m listening to at the moment is: Alive and Kicking by Simple Minds.

Good night everybody. Thanks for reading the blog.

Nos dawch pawb. A diolch am ddilyn fy nhaith yn America.