It sometimes amazes me that Transitional Living Communities functions at all. Our total staff, top to bottom, is made up of recovering drug addicts and alcoholics. We use outside consultants for a couple of areas that are highly technical. A consultant reviews our accounting records once a month. And periodically a professional counselor will come in to deal with specific issues that can't be dealt with by our peer counselors.

When this company was founded in 1992 there were no plans for it to become as big as it is today. There was no business plan, there were no financial backers. The company consisted of a small group of recovering addicts and alcoholics who wanted to stay sober and help others rebuild their lives. It was just a few of addicts working hard and putting their money into the project.

The company started with five beds and some broken down houses in Mesa, Arizona. Within six months there were over 150 residents. At the two-year mark the population was over 300. By the late 90s the company had expanded to Nevada and New Mexico and the population was near 1100. The residents currently operate five small businesses, though at one point TLC had over 10 businesses.

We learned along the way that we do best with businesses that are labor-intensive and low technology. The important thing we consider in our planning is, "what is the worst thing that can happen if we fail?" If we believe that we're not going to bring down the company we're likely to start the new business. Some of our businesses were closed, not because of lack of expertise, but because of a downturn in the economy. One of these was our construction business, which closed last year due a slowdown in the housing industry.

I guess the amazing part to me is that are able to survive financially, even in rough times. Unlike many nonprofits, we receive no funding from the government or outside sources. Our revenue comes from our small businesses and service fees paid by our clients.

The lesson for me is that even a diverse group of people without much of a record of success can accomplish a lot when they work together and stay clean and sober.

In my blog I often write about the opposition that we encounter with our recovery program. We fight local governments over zoning, licensing, and fire safety. While all of these issues are real, they are not the whole picture.

One of the aspects of this operation that I seldom mention is the support from the larger community. We have one employee whose mission is to acquire donations. Our needs cover a wide range. We use a lot of building materials to repair our facilities. Among the items our donation coordinator acquires are roofing material, sheet rock, linoleum and tile, and paint. It is fairly easy to obtain these because suppliers and builders often find themselves with leftover material from completed jobs. They are more than happy to contribute to a worthy cause. Our experience has been that it is much easier to obtain material donations than it is to obtain cash donations.

We have been dealing with some donors for so long that we don't even have to call them. When they have something they think that we can use they simply call us. Often, they don't even care if we use it to repair facilities or if we want to sell it. They just want to get the material off of their premises and to receive the collateral benefit of a tax deduction.

We also receive many donations in another area. A wonderful group of medical people who give us a great deal of help are dentists. We have more than 40 dentists in various specialties who are continually helping our clients. We have a large number of clients who have never taken care of their teeth, some with a condition known in the media as "meth mouth." In most of these cases the clients end up receiving full dentures because the damage has been so extensive.

Hotel and motel chains donate large amounts of sheets pillows and towels. When they upgrade to new dressers and beds, our organization often is the recipient of the furniture they replace.

We also obtain stoves and refrigerators from apartment owners who sometimes have us refurbish their units. They often have no way of disposing of the old appliances. So the easy solution is to give them to us.

The point of all this is to acknowledge and express gratitude for the larger community that supports us.

There are no bad reasons to get sober. During the past 18 years of volunteering as an aftercare facilitator I've heard clients give many reasons why they decided to change their lives.

Some change because of family or poor health. Others quit using for love or financial reasons. Among the most powerful reasons I've heard is from those who do it because of their children. And in this regard men and women seem equally motivated to change because of their children.

During a group this week a client with four children discussed her battles with an addiction that started after one of her oldest child died tragically several years earlier. She described the overwhelming grief that consumed her for years. Alcohol and drugs sometimes masked her pain. But ultimately her drug use put her in prison for five years for a drug offense.

Now, however, she is on parole and working an intense recovery program. Her children live in another state in the care of a family member in a Christian environment. She is determined to grow stronger in her sobriety and ultimately return to raising her children.

Another client told of relinquishing custody of her child to a family member until she gets strong enough in her recovery to resume custody. Her pain, as she discussed temporarily giving up her child, permeated the room. She knows that she will never be a good parent until she gets a period of sobriety. And she wanted her child to be in a safe environment until she achieves that.

In my own case I obtained custody of my seven year old daughter after I was sober two years and raised her until she joined the army. The responsibility of raising that child supported my efforts to stay sober and lead a good life. Even when things got tough I always knew I had the primary responsibility for that girl and she gave me strength when I needed it.

God bless our children for motivating us.

A city council election here in Mesa, Arizona recently made headlines when a 23 year old won one of the open seats. It was interesting to our organization because one of the the winner's first public pronouncements was that he was looking at the "concentration" of halfway houses in the city. His statement demonstrates his youth and ignorance of the history about the so-called halfway house "issue" in this city.

The Mesa halfway house "issue" landed in Federal court in 1998, when the new councilman was around 10 years old. After some five years of litigation, the city modified three laws and gave a $40,000 check to Transitional Living Communities to reimburse legal expenses.

I'm never surprised when a politician panders to his constituency. The constituency in this instance consists, at least partly, of some of Mesa's old-line conservative religious groups. Members of this group reveal their bias in public statements like, "we have more than our fair share" of halfway houses or "we really like what you guys do, we just wish you would do it somewhere else." One of them actually told me one time that I “didn't get it.” He went on to say, “We just don't want you here.” I'm not sure how this attitude squares with one of the great admonitions in Christianity: “Love they neighbor as thyself.”

Sadly, the young councilman is attacking one group in the city that provides a genuine public service at no cost to the taxpayer. Had he taken ten minutes to visit the SAMSHA website he would have learned how alcoholism and drug addiction affects about 15% of the United States population. Since Mesa has over 400,000 residents, there's a statistical probability that some of his constituents might need our services.

Something else the neophyte councilman might have considered is that even recovering drug addicts like to go to restaurants and movies and buy new clothes. They spend for services that generate tax dollars for a city that has a cash flow problem.

Some constituencies with a moral viewpoint think that if they just get rid of the halfway houses the so-called “problem” will go away. And maybe if we close the hospitals and clinics people won't get cancer. The American Medical Association has long recognized alcoholism and drug addiction as a disease. That's why the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act also protect addicts.

We are treated as any other disabled person.

There's a proposition on the ballot in this next election to make medical marijuana legal. Because of my position as director of our recovery program a few people ask me what I think of it. When I say I'm going to vote for it they seem surprised.

"Don't you run a recovery program?" one asked.

"I do," I replied. "But I don't believe there's a strong connection between legalization and drug use."

I used Prohibition as an example. I've never seen evidence that alcoholism increased or decreased because of the passing or repeal of the 33rd amendment to the constitution. I believe that there is a disconnect between our laws and the amount of drugs or alcohol people use.

In any event our drug laws seem to have little effect on availability. One can go in any direction in our city and purchase drugs. I can't remember a time in the past 50 years when our so-called war on drugs has reduced availability for long. Police trumpet the seizure of tons of marijuana or cocaine, but the supply on the streets never seems to diminish for more than a moment. In other words, in our country we have de facto legalization.

On top of that our laws have created a huge enforcement and incarceration industry. Probably more than half, depending upon whose statistics you accept, of the people in state and federal prisons are there for drug-related offenses. Our neighbors to the South are fighting an ongoing battle with cartels that are funded by drug markets in our country. In Mexico over 25,000 people have died in the past four years due to government enforcement efforts.

Much of this drug traffic would cease immediately if drugs were legalized. I believe that moralists object to the idea of legalizing drugs because it would seem like we're condoning drug use. This is hypocrisy, a head in the sand position that ignores the reality that drugs are readily available today.

Some ask about the economic impact of replacing enforcement personnel. Likely the same number of people who work in the incarceration and enforcement fields could be retrained to work in the recovery field. It takes a lot of effort and skill to counsel people and help them change their lives.

I believe that a benevolent society that cares about its citizens will try to help them get to the root of their problems. Laws and punishment are political “feel-good” responses to an uninformed and misguided moral majority.

But for some reason up to this point the moralists have held sway

I was at a 12 step meeting yesterday where the topic was the first step.

After one of the old-timers shared about the first step he segued into a discussion about finding role models in recovery. He said that when he first came to the program he tried to find people who had been sober for a while. He said that he was so serious about recovery and sobriety that he was desperate to find good examples. He didn't pay attention to those who complained at the meetings. He didn't try to pick apart the stories that others told about their experiences in recovery. If he heard something negative he shut it out. He was so desperate to change his life that he focused on those who had what he wanted.

Since he had been in business for much of his life before attempting to get sober, he looked for people with a similar background. Finally his focus fell upon a man who had been sober some 10 years. He noticed that this man came to the meetings in a relatively new car. He was always well dressed in casual business attire. He seemed calm and relaxed and serene. The old-timer noticed that when the man shared he told stories of drinking and drugging that were similar to his own. Finally, he had found someone to whom he could relate.

It isn't imperative to find someone whose story matches ours perfectly. But I believe it boosts our chances of success if we find someone who has a similar background who's been sober for for some time.

My own sponsor is a man I have known for nearly 20 years. He is five years older than I am, retired, and was in the recovery of business for many years. His background is close enough to mine that I can relate to him on many levels. In fact, when I go to him for advice, he often tells me that I know the answer. And he is right. He and I think enough alike that our answers to problems are generally the same.

Try to find someone to whom you relate if you're trying to stay clean and sober.

In recovery we can sometimes learn lessons from the world around us. This came to mind when I was thinking about resentments while watching two dogs playing. They were chasing each other around the yard, play fighting over a bone. Then one of them nipped the other one too hard and a fight broke out. They made a lot of noise for a few minutes, rolling around on the ground, biting each other and growling with what seemed like serious intent.

Finally, though, the fight stopped. The two combatants stood up, looking angrily at each other for few moments. Then they each went to a separate part of the yard. It looked as though they had fractured the relationship for good. Within a few minutes though they were playing again. It was it was as if nothing had ever happened.

While I know that we can't reliably compare animal behavior to human behavior, I believe there are lessons we can learn from animals and children. They have disagreements. They have fights. But wouldn't it be wonderful if we adults could get over our resentments and make up as quickly as animals and children? The world would be a much better place.

In my own recovery I know that I've kept some resentments for years. I'll be sailing along and up will pop a resentment against someone or about something that I thought I'd long forgotten. Maybe the way animals and children deal with one another is a survival skill. But as recovering people our lives would be much simpler and serene if we could take these examples and apply them in our own lives.