No Joke

A friend sent a text, upset because someone commented on Facebook about TLC being "a joke."  I told my friend to chill, that we get a lot of negative comments about TLC. We hear them all the time. Sometimes we hear them in 12 step meetings. Sometimes we hear them from clients. They come from all over, more than we can count.

Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. After all, there are things I don't like about TLC. I wish we had new buildings, sitting on lovely beach somewhere. I wish we had a $20 zillion dollar a year budget. Nothing would be nicer than to have a medical staff and a fleet of limos for our clients. Maybe gourmet cooks to serve meals. And it would be nice to give our clients an allowance and a program where they didn't have to work. Perhaps we could also be more tolerant when they relapse and not discharge them.

The reality is we have old buildings that require constant maintenance. We serve a mostly homeless population that has little or no resources. We receive no government or private funding - subsisting solely on income from our businesses and client service fees. The 60 volunteers on our staff are recovering addicts, with little training. Much of our food is donated. Key people in the office haven't been paid for nearly a year, yet they keep working to help others rebuild their lives.

In other words, we’re recovering addicts who are trying to help others stay clean and sober and make it through life ourselves. Like all humans we do things imperfectly, and we respect the rights of others to be as critical as they want. 

But we’re still clean and sober today.