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REGULAR MEETING February 25, 2019
<br /> Clara Ross, 726 Cushing Street, South Bend, IN, stated, Thank you for five (5) minutes. Thank
<br /> you for giving me a chance to speak. Thank you for giving others the possibility to live, even if
<br /> it's only for five(5)minutes. A choice can be made. Right now,we have a choice we are willingly
<br /> making on our own—to live. And, giving others the possibility to live. That is what sobriety really
<br /> is. It is a chance. It is a chance. All we want is, as a family member people who are addicted to
<br /> cocaine and alcohol,I ask you for a chance. And a place.And hope.And a dream.And a possibility
<br /> to live one (1) more day. To express, one (1) more day. To give my family one (1)more day. To
<br /> give me hope and a hand out, one (1) more day. So, what does this five (5) minutes mean?
<br /> Everything. What does sobriety mean? Everything. What does housing mean? Everything. If only,
<br /> for five(5)minutes. Thank you.
<br /> Jerry Vanest, 1309 East Mishawaka Avenue, Mishawaka, IN, stated, I have worked for Choices
<br /> since we've opened. I am now lead case manager for the last four(4) years. I can tell you, as lead
<br /> case manager, we do everything from not only setting them up after care but also help them with
<br /> any legal issues that some of them may have when they come to our facility. Every chance, as case
<br /> managers,that we have to help our patients,who we also consider family,to live and be successful,
<br /> we can do that. I'm also going to tell you today, a lot of people don't know, but I am a person of
<br /> long-term recovery. I have not had a drink since 1999. I am proud to say that. That is because of
<br /> PTSD from multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Somalia. The VA would not help
<br /> me. They wanted to give me pills which I had two (2) of my fellow comrades kill themselves. One
<br /> (1) overdosed and the other took a shotgun and killed himself. I don't want that option, so I got
<br /> help and counseling. That is another thing we do well in our program. We have some of the best
<br /> minds in the country when it comes to counseling. We have one (1) of the best clinical directors
<br /> you could ever imagine who does amazing things with what we are given as options. I am proud
<br /> to be a part of this program and I am proud to be part of the Choices family. I have worked in
<br /> several places since my mandatory retirement from the military, from being wounded, and I will
<br /> tell you, I don't want to go anywhere else. Till they have to carry me out of there, I will continue
<br /> to fight,every day,to help these patients be successful. That means sometimes we have to be there.
<br /> We have to listen when no matter what is going on, we are that ear. Sometimes we're the ear for
<br /> the family. When we make these weekly calls to these family members, they cry. They scream.
<br /> They are frustrated and angry because they don't know what to do. We have to be that ear and we
<br /> keep carrying on. We keep pushing forward. One(1)thing I want to end with is, always remember,
<br /> and as a Lutheran I have always been taught to understand the great knowledge from Martin
<br /> Luther,who asked ourselves,what kind of person are we?When we leave this world,are we going
<br /> to be someone that just got by with whatever came and let others fall? Or do we stand up and help
<br /> those that can't help themselves and we carry them? That is what kind of person I want to be. I
<br /> want to help those people help themselves. Thank you for this opportunity. I appreciate it. I am
<br /> very much in support, again, for this program. Thank you.
<br /> Eric Forri, 631 North Lafayette Boulevard, South Bend, IN, stated, I work for outreach services
<br /> for Oxford House. We offer transitional living for those who are in long-term recovery and I
<br /> support this. Working with a similar population, many times people come out of treatment and
<br /> they have to go back home to where it was comfortable and back to families that are using or even
<br /> back to streets where they don't have the sustainability to change their lives. So, I support this.
<br /> Every person that had the disease of addiction has to take a different path through it. Sometimes,
<br /> people need more structure. Other people get it right after treatment. I completely support this
<br /> because there are people who, in Choices, will be able to have that accountability and care over
<br /> them so that way,when they leave,they will be more sustainable and become productive members
<br /> of society. I,myself, am in long-term recovery. I have not had a drink since 8/14/17 and with that,
<br /> I struggled with the disease of addiction for five (5) years. It was because I would come out of
<br /> treatment and when I would come home, I did not have that safe environment to go to. So now, I
<br /> advocate for those who are damaged by this stigma. I'm a normal person. I have two (2) kids. I
<br /> had a full music scholarship to school. I was a missionary in Honduras and in my active addiction,
<br /> I was looked at as trash. Because of a place like choices that gave me a second (2nd) chance with
<br /> no judgement,having a new social network that believed in me and helped push me, I am where I
<br /> am at today where I can help change the lives of others. Thank you.
<br /> Shea McClellan, 2734 Sampson Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I work at Choices Recovery. I am
<br /> a behavior interventionist as Brandon touched on before. There are a couple of things I want to
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