Dallas treatment program is a lifeline for men with substance abuse issues

The gold spiked collar around the therapy dog ​​Pepper’s neck is the shiniest thing in the meeting hall of Soul’s Harbor on a sultry Wednesday evening in May.

The homeless shelter for homeless men with drug problems shows its age, but that doesn’t matter to the 60 or so men sitting on a hodgepodge of chairs in the concrete building.

“I love this place,” said Kyle Swatt, a 33-year-old military veteran and current Soul’s Harbor resident who works to combat his longtime meth addiction. “I found my brothers here.”

Different in age and race, the group is put together for a monthly birthday night, at which three residents are celebrated whose birthdays fall in May, as well as 18 men who celebrate soberly for a month up to 14 years.

Executive Director Brent Burmaster, who celebrated 14 years recovery from alcoholism in June, stands behind a vintage wooden lectern handing out profusely gilded sobriety coins along with personal praise to each recipient.

Local residents pray after meeting at Soul’s Harbor in Dallas.(Lawrence Jenkins / special article)

Many of the residents have bike in and out of rehabilitation programs. Most were in prison – some in prison – so Burmaster developed Soul’s Harbor’s six-month residency program using a holistic approach along with the principles of his 25-year career as an IBM sales director.

“We don’t just want to be sober, we also want to get them on the right track,” he says.

Diverse approach

The strategy includes occupational therapy serving the non-profit organization or its four thrift stores – an important source of funding – as well as psychotherapy, CrossFit exercises, money management training, yoga, temporary jobs at partner companies such as Eddie Deen & Co. catering, health care via a weekly mobile Clinic operated by Parkland Health & Hospital System, pet therapy with Pepper and advice on educational opportunities and vocational school.

Most residents have children, and a nursing fathers program is scheduled to start in September.

The birthday night begins with a special Panda Express meal and a piece of sheet cake. But as the men roar their approval of every single addiction control achievement, it becomes clear that they are here for camaraderie, mutual support, and, perhaps most importantly, hope.

May birthday residents receive gifts during a celebration in Soul’s Harbor.(Lawrence Jenkins / special article)

Former resident Kevin Jackson, whom Burmaster affectionately calls his “son,” takes the floor.

“It’s a great day,” says Jackson.

“YES!” the men scream.

“It’s a great day to be clean.”

“YES!”

“It’s a great day to be sober.”

“YES!”

“If you learn to celebrate each other, your life will change,” says Jackson, who has been sober for seven years. “When I got to Soul’s Harbor, I didn’t know if I was going to stay. I just didn’t want to go back to what drove me here. “

Jackson was paroled and enlisted in a salvage department after a robbery in 2012, but returned to crack cocaine two years later.

In Soul’s Harbor, he “allowed himself to live his life differently” and stayed long enough to develop relationships with men who were sober longer.

“I just want you to know, brother, it can be done,” Jackson tells them.

Juan Nunez keeps his six month sobriety chip in Soul’s Harbor.(Lawrence Jenkins / special article)

‘Do the right thing’

Next up is Tanner “Bullet” Hole, who was paroled in February after hosting an escaped child and seriously injuring an officer after 18 years in prison. Sober for 14 years, he’s been hanging out in Soul’s Harbor while making his way back into society.

“One month, two months, these are the toughest times, when it’ll eat you up the hardest,” he tells the group. “But I’ve seen more drugs in prison than I’ve ever seen in the free world.”

Hole encourages them to “stay in tune”, exercise, and talk to one another.

“I just want to encourage you to do the right thing,” he concludes.

After the program, resident Steven “Link” Branum says such statements are “motivating, especially for the guys who have been sober”.

Burmaster kicked off Birthday Night just weeks after joining the nonprofit in 2009 when one of the residents mentioned it had been years since he ate birthday cake.

“Birthday night is our happiest night of the month,” says Burmaster. “It’s amazing to see guys like Kevin who slept on Martin Luther King [Jr.] Boulevard and turned his life around. “

“Brent is interested in ‘How do you fix these problems,’” says restaurateur Eddie Deen, who holds a biannual workshop at the shelter on giving up old thought patterns and self-destructive behavior.

Although Soul’s Harbor clearly has a spiritual element and Burmaster and others often praise God, the program is not based on religion.

Men relax in their dorm in Soul’s Harbor, Dallas.(Lawrence Jenkins / special article)

Part of the process

About a third of men stay the full six months, and 80 to 90% of them will stay sober in the long term, says Burmaster. Others come back to try again.

“Some of them leave after two or three months,” he says. “They think, ‘I have this.’ They go back to their drug buddies or drinking pals and get drawn into the same thing again. … It used to make me sad, but now I realize that it is part of the recovery process. “

After the meeting, Roland Scott and Larry Starnes both say they’ve been to rehab and, “There’s no other place like this.”

“Here you can be who you are,” says Scott.

“Here you can feel the love and spirituality,” adds Starnes.

Reginald “Reggie” Finch, a graduate of the program, is Soul’s Harbor’s assistant director.

Finch pays tribute to Burmaster, noting that he freed him from jail for vehicle theft and took him to Soul’s Harbor.

“So who would do that?” Fink asks.

“A madman like me,” says Burmaster quickly and grins.

“He is the father; I am the mother, ”says Finch. “It’s just a big school. We are all Lt. Dan trying to become Forrest Gump. “

It’s an apt metaphor: In the film Forrest Gump, Lt. Dan the angry alcoholic veteran amputee who partnered with the lovable Gump in Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

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To learn more or to support the organization’s thrift stores, visit soulsharbordallas.org.

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