Battling an addiction is difficult in
any circumstance. But like many other people struggling to stay sober, Daniel
Stendeback had to do it while in jail, a place when he felt very much alone.
“Most all my family turned away from me.
I had no communication with friends,” he said. “Facing addiction alone is a
losing battle. I knew I didn’t want to keep doing what had got me in the
situation to begin with, yet (I) was helpless to face it.”
Fortunately, Stendeback became friends
with someone on the outside: Dave Druitt, a Vietnam War veteran, a recovering
addict and parishioner of Church of the Nativity in Burke. Having someone to
listen to him made all the difference in Stendeback’s life.
“Having the ability to call and talk to
someone who understood, someone I could tell actually cared about whether I
made it or not quickly became priceless in my recovery. The first step in my
spiritual awakening was having that outlet,” said Stendeback, now a parishioner
of Nativity. It’s why he now volunteers with the Dreamcoat and Calix Helpline for
Addictions, a helpline staffed primarily by members of two local organizations
— Dreamcoat and Calix.
Dreamcoat, founded by Druitt, is a
not-for-profit Northern Virginia painting and home improvement company that
employs veterans and former inmates. The Calix Society is an association of
Catholic alcoholics, drug addicts, and family members and friends affected by
addiction. Both groups, as well as priests such as Father M. Paul Richardson,
the Calix chaplain, have teamed up to staff the new helpline.
The start of this project comes at a
time when isolation, joblessness and other effects of the coronavirus pandemic
make recovering addicts and addicts more susceptible to relapse or overdosing.
The American Medical Association recently released a report noting “an
increasing number of reports from media suggesting increases in opioid-related
mortality — particularly from illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl
analogs.”
George Swanberg, executive director of
Life Line Counseling Center and a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist Church
in Warrenton, has noticed an uptick in calls since the start of the pandemic. “In
the last three or four months, my work has exploded,” he said. “I’ve probably
got four times as many clients as I did before. Relapses are happening, and
there are some opiate ones but most of these are alcohol.”
Most of the helpline volunteers are not
counselors, but many have been through recovery and are able to direct people
in need to local resources. “We care, we’ve been through it, and we have
experience to offer those in need,” said Druitt. “We offer the helpline as a
way to interact with those in our diocese who are touched by addictions and
need a warm heart and experienced hands, with many resources as referrals. It
makes all the difference in the world.”
Timothy, who asked that his last name be
withheld, is a helpline caller and a prisoner at Buckingham Correctional Center
in Dillwyn. He said he appreciates being able to talk to a fellow believer. “Being
able to reach a priest or another devoted Catholic, it’s a true blessing. In
prison, you get to the point where it is a struggle and there are times when it
messes with your faith,” he said. “When I get depressed or angry or in one of
my moods, I know that I can reach out to somebody (who’s) going to give me some
good advice.”
Find out more
To reach the Dreamcoat and Calix Helpline for Addictions,
call 970-989-2670. For more information on additional local resources, go to
ccda.net/opioids.
